And They Call It Puppy Love
by Femme de Sorciere
Summary: What starts out as an okay day ends with threats of divorce, broken eggs and something that pees all over your bedroom floor. Gotta love twelfth grade Health class.
1. Chapter 1

_Bonjour mes amis!_

Great ta see y'all! So...First story...yikes! SO! This was supposed to be all funny, but I'm...not really good at that. It's starting to get all serious and broody. Oh well, this is my attempt at comedy styling until I get some more stories up.

Notes, notes, notes, notes.....This takes place...In a semi-AU universe, I guess. Still EVO just - adjusted. Jean and Scott are adults like the movies. The rest is explained I think. Any questions just ask away!

* * *

The day had started off normal enough. She had woken up to Kitty's annoying singing, taken a shower, put on her make up, pushed Gambit down the stairs (it was _two_ steps!) and headed off to class.

So, how did it come to Logan standing at the front of the class room holding a small, squirming..._thing_, with all intents of it being _her_ responsibility?

To begin with, this whole thing was all Professor X's fault. After Apocalypse, he decided his mutants had being getting a little too much spotlight (in other words, strangers with cameras had started following them everywhere). His solution? Move the mansion (a feat not as difficult as it sounds, what with the whole place full of mutants) to a "quieter" neighbour - leave no forwarding address. Don't call us, we'll call you.

Which, to Rogue, sounded kinda like perfection. No more stares...okay, there were still stares, but now there were _fewer_ of them....which is always nice. No more public school, which meant Mystique couldn't just pop up out of no where. Again, nice. And the cherry on top? The mansion was rebuilt bigger than it had been before, to make room for new mutants, and Rogue had snagged herself a prime locale room, top floor (a floor reserved for 'long term' students. A.K.A students without homes or families who would continue to mooch off the professor until the end of time), huge window facing out over the grounds and...no _roommates!_

Like most things however, there were also downsides. One - More room in the mansion meant more recruits, namely, Remy LeBeau or _Gambit_. Or Swamp Rat. Or Gumbo. It really just depended on who you asked. The boy would just not leave her be! She was think about giving him that kiss he begged for, just to shut him the hell up for a few hours. But then he'd be in her head.

Two - Because there were so many young mutants in the school, and they couldn't all go to public school with out being found they had to turn the mansion into a school. "_Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters." _Gifted her butt. And since there was still such a stigma about mutants it was hard to get teachers, so they used who they had. Jean, Scott, the Prof, Ororro and....Logan. *Insert shudder of fear _here_*

And last, but not least...Since she had gotten her own room on a sparsely occupied floor of the mans..._school_, she was accused of being _antisocial_ and _cold _toward the other students. So, she spent more time in her room than she did anywhere else. So what? If you had multitudes of voices running through your head at any given moment AND you lived in a mansion full to the brim of loud, obnoxious young'uns _you'd_ be seeking solace every chance you got too!

Which brings us back to the story-

Rogue had gone through the day without incident. Which should have been her first clue that everything was about to go horribly, horribly wrong.

"Sex is bad. Don't do it."

Logan turned to face the class, arms crossed, his expression both embarrassed and fierce. No doubt this was the last subject he ever wanted to cover with a room full of hormonal teenagers. He really drew the short straw when it came to teaching classes - Danger room (which, on its own, is great...But he was a "co-teacher" with large-stick-shoved-up-his-ass Summers), History (because he had lived through most of it. Of course he didn't _remember _any of it, but Ororro didn't seem to think that mattered) and Health class.

The classroom was filled with muffled snickers, nervous giggling and numerous groans.

"I don't like this any more than you do. Let's just try to make this as painless as possible, alright?" Logan rolled his eyes as he heard the boys in the back corner _giggling_ and _That's what she said -_ing. "Give me reasons you shouldn't be having sex."

"Ya mean besides tha fact that ya'd skin tha guy alive?" Came Rogues response. He gave her sardonic look.

"I mean besides the obvious."

"When we talk 'bout reasons ya _should_ be 'aving sex?"

"Next year."

"But we graduate _this_ year."

"I know." Logan gave a grin, showing his teeth. "Now, reasons people. No need to put your hands up, shout'em out."

"Da _fille _get clingy in da morning'"

"Tha guy has tha emotional maturity of a six yea' old."

"STD's"

"Actually they're called STI's now."

"What? Why are they called that?"

"It has something to do with-"

"ENOUGH!" Logan shouted over all the chatter. "I changed my mind. No one speaks until they are called on. Got it? And be _serious_ people."

Gambits hand went up like lightning. Logan called upon him with great reluctance. "Yes, Gumbo?"

With a very serious expression Remy lean forward in his seat, as if telling Logan a secret from the opposite side of the room. "You should know by now, _monsieur _Claws, dat I a'ways take sex _very_ seriously."

Logan was not amused. "You open your mouth one more time cajun, and you'll be spending the rest of your years in the danger room."

Needless to say, Remy zipped his lips and sat back in his chair.

"Okay, so we have...STI's. Anything else?" He scanned the room. "Sam?"

"Uh...emotional maturity. Some said it earlier as a joke but..."

"No, it's a good one. Thanks Sam."

The class began to debate back forth their suggestions from girls maturing faster than boys to the morality of sex before marriage. By the end Logan was actually pretty impressed with his students. Except...

"I think there's a glaring hole in our list here. Any body else?" The class was silent as they looked on, confused.

"Gawd." Rogue rolled her eyes, removing her boots from her desk where she had been laying out while her classmates had made with all the chatter. "Seriously? Hey, Kit, where da babies come from?"

"Babies?" The light bulb went off and Kitty turned back to Logan, embarrassed for not having thought of it sooner. "Unplanned pregnancy?"

"Very nice...Rogue." He shook his head, hiding a small grin as she just gave him a humble wave, as if she was above all _this_.

"What ever." She grinned.

He wrote the word family up on the board and circled it. The students began to groan, having guess where all this was going.

"And now for your assignment." He walked along the class, a bucket in his hand. "Every guy will pick one of the girls names out of the bucket. As of now, she is your wife-"

"Uh Mister Logan?" Kurt interrupted.

"Yes Kurt."

"Can ve re-draw?"

"Ya get who ya get Elf."

"But, Mister Logan-"

"_What _Elf?"

"Itz not zat I am trying to make trouble itz just..." He held the paper up to Logan face. "Zis breaks a law, I think."

Seeing Rogues name on the slip of paper, Logan nodded, taking the paper. "Re-draw."

"Well, Ah neva!" Rogue stood with her hands on her hips. "Ya don't wanna marry me? I thought ya loved me?"

"Sit down, Rogue." Logan, once again, shook his head, while Kurt covered his face over his desk, mortified by his sisters antics.

"I'll marry y' _chere._"

"Bite me swamp rat."

"Oh, can I? Please?"

"Pick your name Gumbo." Logan cut the argument short by shoving the bucket into Remys face. Remy reached his hand in, pulling out a name. When he read it, he burst out laughing. Taking the paper from him, Logan glaced at it and grimaced before giving Rogue a sympathetic look. The appearance of horror that took over her face made Remy laugh harder.

"Ah wanna divorce."

"Not an option.":

"Than ah'll become a widow."

That ceased Remys laughed.

"As I was saying...you are now all married. You will eat together, you'll 'buy' a house together. You'll be keeping on a budget and making all kinds of important decisions - where to live, where do you buy groceries, what do you buy for groceries. Everything. Each one of you will keep a journal for the next three weeks." He pointed to the stack of journals he had on his desk.

"Now, some of you may notice that there is a blue plus sign on the corner of the paper with your partners name. Congrats!" He reached under his desk and pulled out two carton of eggs. "Meet your children."

The class room erupted into chaotic chatter as there were complaints and excitement all around as Logan handed out the eggs.

"Mr. Logan?"

"Kitty?"

"It doesn't look like I have a partner." She looked behind her as most of the class had begun to pair up.

"Huh? Oh! I forgot." He removed the final two names from the bucket. _"_You and...Jubilee. There are more girls than guys so..."

Kitty looked down at her name as Jubilee joined them. She saw a blue plus sign on the corner of her paper. "Does this mean I'm a single mother?"

"Nope."

Jubilee retrieved her paper from Logan, seeing a similar blue mark in the corner. "Don't leave us hanging Wolvie! What does it mean?"

"You two are our 'alternative couple'." He handed each of them an egg. "Congrats." He returned his attention to the class.

"You will treat this egg baby as your own. You'll name it, feed it, bathe it, care for it. You don't leave it alone. You _don't _boil it. Treat it with all the 'lovin' tenderness' you'd show your real kid. This may be as close-"

***WHOOSH******CRUNCH**SPLAT***

Logan stood for the crouching position he had been forced to take, assessing the mess that used to be an egg all over the wall where his head had been. The entire class was staring at Rogue in horror. She stood, a snarl on her face, and her hands on her hip.

"Stripes....I know I didn't say it, but I just figured it was a given that you don't _throw_ your children at a wall."

"A baby Logan? Reallah? Are ya tryin' ta be cruel?" Anger and hurt radiated from her voice and made Logan feel a little bad.

"This isn't punishment Rogue."

"Ah ain't carrying around some egg, pretendin' its something ah can never really have."

"Now _Chere-_"

"Can it, LeBeau!" She returned her attention to Logan. "Ah can't play pretend with this Logan. Class or not."

"Figured you'd say something like that."

"Ya....what?"

"And that's why we have an alternative." Logan reached under his desk again, this time pulling out a much larger box, with holes in it. Opening the box he pulled out something bigger than an egg. And furriers.

"Is that a...."

"Logan...."

"Stripes. Gumbo. Meet your baby." He sat the bundle onto Rogues desk.

"No fair! How come Rogue gets a puppy?"


	2. Chapter 2

So....*Eeeeeeee!* :D this is my excited face/scream at the fantastic response I got to the first chapter. Really, thank you all SO much. I keep seeing names of people I've read and I get all fan-girly. It's embarrassing, really. ANYWAY....It's good to know y'all are pickin' up what I'm a'layin' down!

Okay, so I do all my writing at work (seriously lax job. Its so sad.) Which means the updates will probably come the day after I work. IE: I worked yesterday, here's your chapter. Unless it's busy, then it'll wait till next work day, ya dig? And I usually only work weekends and Wed. As to why it took me FOREVER to get this chapter up, and it's a little bit shorter than originally intended, I was reading fan fiction instead of writing it (A Comedy Of Letters by Some Scribbles. It's pretty good. Actually its really good. I got all emotional). Bad author, I know. But here we go...

* * *

Almost immediately after Logans declaration the bell signalling classes end sounded, and the students were out the door in a flash. Every last one of them ran their hand over the puppy, welcoming him to the school. Rogue just...stared at it. Once the room was empty (with the exception of herself, Logan and the ever present Swamp Rat) Rogue looked away from the furball and back up at Logan.

"Logan...."

"Rogue..." He mocked.

"This is a dog."

"Huh. I hadn't noticed."

She glared at him, while Remy took their momentary distraction as a cue to pick the puppy up. It was big, for a puppy...appropriately baby sized. It let out a yawn before settling down in his arms. It took every man bone in his body not to let out an "awwww."

"A livin', breathin', lickin', nippin' _dog._"

"Every time ya tell me Stripes, I get more and more astounded."

"Ya know, patronization may not be the best road to be takin' right now." She looked uneasily at the dog in Remys arms. "Ah don't wanna dog Logan."

"Well, darlin', most people don't want their homework, but we all make do."

"Ah can't even hold the damned thing! What am I supposed at learn from this?"

"Why can't you hold it?" Her glare melted into something that looked like a cross of "are you kidding me?" anger and genuine confusion. With a patient sigh Logan placed his bare hand on the top of Rogues head.

"Just what do ya think yar doin'?" she asked.

"What's it look like?"

"Y' both shoul' stop ans'erin each odders questions wit' mor' questions." Remy interjected, finally tired of listening to a conversation that neither involved him nor was about him. Not that it mattered, as they both continued to ignore is existence as usual.

"It _looks_ like ya got yar fool hand on the top of my head."

"But you're not absorbing me?" He said in a mock shocked voice that was really beginning to get on her nerves.

"'Course ya ain't! Your touching my hair ya damn...ed...." Rogue trailer off as Remy waved the puppy's furry paw at her. She stood abruptly grabbing her binder. "Ah hate you."

"No you don't."

With a huff she turned to stalk out of the room, but was stopped reluctantly by Logans voice.

"Rogue-"

"_What_ now?"

"You have to name it before you leave. Everyone else had to name their eggs. Same rules apply to you."

She gave Remy and the dog an analysing glance before shrugging her shoulders. "It's homework, ain't it? Well, there ya go. Homework."

And with a grace known only to a few women in this world, she left the room.

***

It was less than twelve minutes before Remy showed up, knocking at her door. She allowed him entrance, though she did do it with a large lack of enthusiasm. They stood in awkward silence for a few moments after Remy laid the now sleeping puppy onto Rogues bed.

"So...Homework, huh? Dat really wha' we goin' wit', _chere_?"

Rolling her eyes at him, she shoved a stack of papers into his hand. "Tha way ah see it, we can do this and not have ta spend every wakin' moment together. We can watch the dog in shifts, an' come together at the end of the week to compare notes. Plus we'll be seein' each other in class which is when we can exchange it-"

"He." Remy interrupted.

"What?"

"He's a he, not an' 'it'. An' 'e's got a name, ya know. 'Da dog'. Psh."

"Oh, ah sorry. We can exchange _Homework_," she stressed the dogs name, "in class. Or day to day, if ya rather."

"Works for me."

"Ah'll take the first shift."

"...oh."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That wasn't a nothing "oh", that was a something "oh". Spill, Cajun."

"It's just..." Remy looked at the puppy then back at her. "'m not sure y' ready. To be alone wit' 'im I mean."

"Excuse me?" Rogue was outraged.

"All fairness, chere, y' t'rew our first born at da wall." When she hauled back her fist, he was already on the other side of the room.

"Ah can take care of _a dog_, Remy."

"Yeah?" He challenged as he picked up the dog and held it out to her. "Hold him."

"Ummm, what?" She stepped back, as if it was diseased.

"Y' can take care o' da pup, _non_? 'old him."

"Just put him down Remy! Ya woke him up!"

Remy looked down at the puppy and rubbed his face against Homework's fur. "He don' mind, do ya pup?" Tired of being handled all day, Homework attempted to jump out of Remys arms and onto the floor.

"See? He doesn't even _wanna_ be held!" She felt vaguely triumphant.

"Poor kid." Remy put the puppy on the ground. "'e's jus' upset his mama don' love him."

Rogues jaw dropped. "I never said that! Why would you say that? Are you _tryin'_ ta give him a complex?

"Den pick'im up!"

"No...I don't...he's fahn wondering around and..." She watched as Homework squatted it the corner, "And peein' all over mah room."

"Course he's peeing everywhere. He's got _issues._"

"He's not old enough to have issues."

"Well if you'd-"

"I swear to all that is holy that if you say 'pick him up' ah'm gonna shove a pillow down yar throat."

"It's okay, Roguey." He threw an arm over her shoulder, ignoring her attempts to duck under his arm. "Dey got medication f'r t'ings like dis nowadays!"

"Don't call me Roguey." Was her immediate response. Giving up on escape, at leat temporarily, she shot him a suspicious glance. "Medication?"

"Ya know...For da depression. The kind where your scared of babes an' whatnot."

"Post-partum depression? Is that what you are talking about?" At his nod, she shook him off with a snarl. "Boy, you are twelve kinds'a stupid!" She put her hands on her hips and Remy knew he was in for it. "Scared of babies? That's not even...No. Ya know wha'? Ah don't even wanna talk to ya any more. Out!"

"Out? _Mio?_" He pointed at himself. With a bloody scream, she ran at him, arms out stretched. Unprepared for the attack (although, really, he should have seen it coming), Remy found himself being shoved backwards towards the door. Before he could blink, all he saw was the door slamming in his face.

"Eh." He shrugged to himself. "Wen' better den I t'ought it would."

***

Rogue ran her gloves hands over her tired face. It had been a long, long day. Thank God it was almost over. She looked over to where the mutt had peed on her floor and sighed. Scratch that. It was three weeks from being over. She groaned. Why did Logan hate her? She thought they got along well enough.

Better even.

"Alright, dog. Where'd ya go?" Crawling on her knees, she looked under the bed to see the puppy cowering against the wall. She was instantly worried. She must have frightened him when she screamed at Remy. Who, by the way, was never gonna know, cause God knows he'd use that against her too.

"Come here puppy."

No movement.

"Here puppy." She made kissey noises and patted her knees. "Come on, boy."

Still, nothing. With a heavy sigh she slid back from her knees to her butt. "Fine. Stay then." It was all she could do not to roll her eyes when the dog did exactly as she suspected he would - the exact opposite of what she had said. Slowly, Homework began wriggling closer towards her.

Out from under the bed, but still at least a foot away from her, he stopped and sat up.

The both of then sat in contemplative silence, considering each other closely, sizing each other up.

Rogue took in his appearance with a critical eye. He was a cutie, she would give him that. Patches of black and white coloured him, with small random spots of brown, just enough to give him character. His eyes were ice blue, and excited. His nose scrunched as he sniffed the air.

She was fighting a losing battle when a tiny smile made it on to her face, and, as if he had seen it, Homeworks tail began to thump loudly against the floor.

* * *

A/N - Post-partum depression...Not a funny issue. I did poke at it a little, but I wasn't deliberately making fun -trust me, I know there is nothing funny about any of it. My sister has it with her youngest, and its painful for everyone involved.

How very public service announcement of me.

REVIEW...if ya wanna.

.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! The response to this has BLOWN my MIND. Also, would you like me to respond to your review personally? Cuz I can, Im just not sure how many people actually want that...**

**NOW, just so you know, I'm not...incredibly bright. I mean, I'm good at what I do, but science...math...history...none of those were really my strong suit. So when it comes to Hank, I just wrote what I wanted him to say, then looked up more complicated words in the thesaurus. Which was fun. I feel smarter now.**

**And this story is....no where near what it was going to be. That being said, I am now just writing the story. The characters have taken over and I have no say, which means I don't know whats going to happen. I did know, but then Homework was cute, and I didn't want Rogue to be all ubêr angst and...here we are now. **

**Also, Homework is the world most behaved puppy at the moment. It might change later, but if your ever wondering what he's doing, he's probably not to far away, peeing or chewing on something, okay?**

* * *

**Rogue had a great sleep.**

**It was a little warm since she had had to wear both long pants and a long sleeve top (and socks and** gloves) _just in case _and she now had a living breathing heat pack attached to her knees. She hadn't intended on letting Homework sleep with her, but before she had a chance to scoot him off the bed, he had curled up into the spot behind where her knees bended and fallen asleep.At least he looked like he was asleep, but Rogue wasn't sure just how much time Remy had spent with the pup before hand.

Wouldn't it just be peachy if he took after his father? Manipulative, smarmy, womanizing basta-

Oh, god. She was, for many intends and a few purposes, married to Remy 'Gambit' LeBeau. The whole affair left a strange taste in her mouth. Stupid Logan.

Well, this probably couldn't be all on Logans shoulders, after all, he was one of her greatest 'keep-this-scumbag-Cajun-away-from-me' supporters. Stupid Remy.

Then again...It _probably _wasn't his fault either, seeing as how, originally, Kurt had pulled her name (the thought still made her laugh...and shutter) and Remy had been the last guy to pull a name. Dammit. Now she had no one to blame.

Stupid home school curriculum.

Even better news than having a _great_ nights sleep? Was waking up to it being a Thursday, which meant free period, followed by Home Ec, with Mr. McCoy. Talk about slack morning.

She stretched, pulling herself from bed. It was early of course. After 5 years of being hardcore trained by Logan (many classes being held at 4:30am, on the dot) it was hard, and felt very wasteful of a day, to sleep in past 6. At least for her. Most of the school stayed quiet for at least another hour and a half before everyone woke up in a panic and rushed around to get ready and get to class on time.

You'd think living _at_ your school would give you a leg up on getting to class on time, but for most of the student here...no.

A little past 6:30 she made her way down to the kitchen, leaving Homework still tucked under the blankets where he was still asleep. She had chuckled when he growled at her attempts to get him out of bed. Wasn't that just like a kid?

As expected, Logan was in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. He grunted what would barely pass as a 'good morning' and slid the coffee pot in her direction, never looking up. She enjoyed his silence.

Well, most mornings she did. This particular morning though, she got the feeling he was waiting for something.

Taking a sip of her coffee to find it was to hot to drink, she sat her cup down. Resting her elbows on the table, and her head on her hands, she stared intently in his direction, attempting to send his telepathic messages.

_You __**want**__ to give me the entertainment section. You feel the need to hand it over __**without**__ comment. You - _

_Rogue? Would you __**please**__...shut up?_

_Jean?_

_You're projecting. Loudly I might add. Just ask him so I can go back to sleep._

_Ask him? Nah. That would ruin the whole 'comfortable silence' thing we got going now._

_Could you at least stop trying to...what is it you were trying to do anyway?_

_I was trying my hand at telepathy. Or using The Force. I hadn't really thought it through entirely. _

Rogue heard laughter rumble through her head and it made her smile.

_Hey Rogue, is it true you got a dog?_

_Uh, yeah. Kinda. It's a class project. The whole baby thing? I guess since I'll never be able tah have a real one-_

_I'm sure that's not the reason! You never know what going to happen in the-_

_I prefer to live in the present, thank ya very much. Besides, I wasn't out for pity I just- _

_**Girls, that's quite enough. Some of us do not enjoy these early morning conversations as much as you do.**_

_Professor?_

_**Yes, Rogue.**_

_You still there Jean?_

_Still here._

_Well, I hope y'all don't think me rude, but don't ya think I got enough voices runnin' through my head without you two making a nuisance of yourselves?_

_What? But you-_

_**Rogue you can't keep-**_

And just because she was done having fun with the conversation, she pulled up the mental shields the Professor had taught her and shut them both out. She briefly wondered what Xavier thought about his techniques being used against him. But now she was bored. It seemed she would have to be the first to break the quiet.

Her mouth snapped shut though, before she had made a peep, as Logan slid the comic section in her direction.

_Score one for the Force!_

_****_

Home Ec wasn't all that bad, as far as morning classes went. Especially since Kitty had been forced to drop the class due to a scheduling conflict. You could have almost heard the entire mansion breathe a sigh of relief.

She sat her bag down beside her groups oven before sitting on the counter.

"Ah, Miss Rogue. Early as usual I see."

"What can ah say, Mr. McCoy? Ah'm a cookin' fool." She leaned in and glances around the room before whispering conspiratorially in his direction. "Just so ya know, Logan handed out th' egg babies yesterday."

The large blue man flinched. "I do not postulate you foresee a tactic in which we could forestall the cataclysm that was last years experience with, ***cough***, 'egg babies' as you've so aptly entitled it?"

Rogues face scrunched up as if she was deep in thought before she shrugged. She may have only understood every other word, but she got the gist.

"Nope."

"I had thought not." He looked around. "And where is your child?"

"Ya mean ya don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Ya really must be th' only one. I didn't get an egg."

"Well, that's not terribly uncommon due to-"

"Ah got a puppy."

"A...A puppy, you say?" The man looked positively bewildered.

"Uh-huh. Named him Homework." She grinned. "Wanna see him?"

"Do I....ah, yes."

Hopping off the counter, she reached into her bag, and, keeper her arms close to her stomach to keep Homework as far from her face as she could and still hold him, she pulled him out of her bag.

"He likes in in there. Just added a pillow an' he went right tah sleep. Lazy is what he is...Wanna hold him?"

"Oh -" Before he could respond he found his arms full of puppy. "My."

"Ah know right? Best I can tell he's a collie, or a shepherd of some kind."

"He's a Aussie canis familiaris I believe."

"A what now?"

"Yes, sorry. An Australian Shepherd."

Rogue thought about that for a moment before she burst out laughing. "Ah can nawt wait tah tell Remy!"

"Mr. LeBeau? What ever for?"

"Well, personally, ah only know one Australian." She tucked her finger under Homeworks chin. "Ah wonder how your pa will feel about this development?"

"I'm afraid I do not understand...unless you are implying, of course, that in regards to your 'childs' questionable parentage, Remy could not be the father, as he is, in fact, _not_ of Australian descent. And in keeping with the spirit of the entire experiment, Remy, being your husband and therefore the theoretical father of said child would be forced to admit that he was not the 'baby-daddy', as you adolescents put it, and that someone Australian, in point of fact, was. As the singular Australian in these parts would be St. John, almost certainly Mr. LeBeau's closest friend and comrade, it would appear you, his wife, had an affair with his best friend. Hmmm..." Mr. McCoy smiled. "Quite clever."

"Well, it was clever..." Rogue removed Homework form Hanks hands. "Till ya went and...did what ever it is ya just did. Anyone ever tell ya you're a real buzz kill, Mr. McCoy."

"Why, yes." He grinned at her, his gnarly teeth showing. "You and Logan see fit to tell me...quite frequently, I might add."

The rest of class went by quickly. Homework wandered around the room, visiting with the other class mate who had deemed themselves his aunts (or uncles!) and introducing him to his egg cousins.

"Homework, Rogue? Really?" Kitty gave her the patented 'I can't believe you did that, and yet I'm not surprised in the least' look. "Original, much?"

"Oh, ah sorry, what are your kids names again?" Rogue gave her an unimpressed eye roll. "Eggbert and Egg-liza?"

"Hey!" Kitty cradled the eggs to her chest. "There's nothing wrong with those names!"

"Right." Rogue snorted. Kitty responded by sticking her tongue.

"Besides, I only chose Eggliza."

"Oh, yeah...How's the whole lesbian child-rearing going for ya?"

Kitty let out a sound that was the combination of a groan and a whine.

"That bad?" Rogue glanced up from re-packing her school bag to give Kitty a sympathetic look.

"Not, like, the whole working with Jubes thing. That's totally fine! It's just..."

"Th' boys we go tah school with have the emotional maturity of twelve year olds?"

"Exactly!"

"Poor boys." Rogue smirked.

"Poor boys? What about, like, poor me?"

"Think about it Kit. This is about th' closest most of'em are every gonna get tah girl on girl action." Rogue was forced to duck as Kitty swung her hand bag in the general direction of her head. Not that she was scared or anything...it was just, that for a tiny little valley girl, Kitty had a surprisingly strong arm.

"Rogue....!" Kitty let out a long whine. "They all think I'm gay!"

"No they don't." Rogue had to pinch herself from laughing out loud. "And there's nothing wrong with bein' gay, ya know."

"But, like, I didn't chose to be gay."

"Ah'm gonna let ya think that statement over one more tahm before ah comment."

"Huh? Oh." Kitty blushed. "I didn't mean...I meant that Logan made me."

"Oh God!" Rogue burst out laughing so hard her ribs started to hurt. She had to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"What?!"

"Logan made you gay!"

"Rogue...I'm, like, beginning to think you have more in common with the boys than we first thought."

"Aww, Kit. Ya know ah'm only teasing."

"You should trade me!" Kitty grabbed her arm, excited. "I'll take Remy, and you can have Jubilee."

"First off...that's so wrong. Trading trash for your wife." Rogue shook her head, and made a tsk-tsk motion. "An' second-"

"Oh, never mind." Kitty pouted. "It was just an idea. I'm just, like, totally sick of the teasing."

Rogue just shook her head, grinning. She called Homework after her, who gleefully trotted after the sound of him mammas voice.

"Speaking of, how's it going with, like, you and Remy?"

"Actually, Remy's been pretty-"

"_Ma chere_, talkin' bout _mio_?" The object of conversation interrupted.

Rogue groaned, tossing her head back. Of course, Remy _would_ appear at that exact moment. Her day had been going _so_ well.

"Ah ain't your anything', Swamp rat." Remy merely grinned and threw an arm over her shoulder.

"Actually, y' be m' wife." He tightened his hold slightly as she attempted to escape out from underneath his arm. "An' da _mère de mon enfant_."

Rogue looked helplessly towards Kitty, who seemed to be finding great amusement in her current predicament. "Ah changed mah mind Kit." She shoved Remy away from her and inched closer to her best friend. "Ah'll go gay for ya."

* * *

ALTERNATE SCENE:

"Rogue....!" Kitty let out a long whine. "They all think I'm gay!"

"No they don't." Rogue had to pinch herself from laughing out loud. "And there's nothing wrong with bein' gay, ya know."

"Are you trying to tell me something Rogue?"

"Yes...That you are an idiot."

* * *

PS - I put up my ideas for my next story, so if you wanna stop by my profile, you should vote for one that you would read!


	4. Chapter 4

"We need a house."

Rogue and Remy were lounging around her bedroom, trying to fill out the basics of their project.

"Hmmm, _chere_?" Remy answered lazily. He had been lying on her bed, his head hanging off the side. He enjoyed the view of upside Rogue. Truth be told, he enjoyed every view of Rogue. Not that, outside of harmless, nonchalant flirting, he would ever tell her that.

"A house, swamp rat." She tossed the binder onto his stomach. "We can't reallah figure out a budget till we know how much money we have. We can't find out how much money we have till we buy a house."

"Correct. Eh...How we suppose t' know what t' spend on da house, if we don' have a budget?"

"Good point." Rogue tapped her nose with her pen. "Ah think....we gotta find a way tah mesh our existin' finances and expenditures." She spun her chair towards him. "Think ya can handle that?"

"_Pour vous, quelque chose._"

"Ah'm gonna assume that means yes." At his nod, she continued. "That'll be what we can do tonight, and tomorrow Ah'll grab the housin' book Kitty bought an' we can pick outta there."

"Book?"

"Yeah. Ya know, with th' pictures of th' houses, and the listin's? 'Three bedrooms, two bath, small yard'. " Rogue shrugged. "A book."

"Where be da fun in dat?"

"It ain't supposed to be fun, it's homework."

"Shh!" Remy quickly covered Homeworks' ears. "Y' wan' y'r son t' develop a complex dis early in life?"

"Ha." Rogue huffed humourlessly. "First, he's got issues, now he's gotta complex."

"N' like mos' boys, it all comes back t' 'is mamma."

"You're such a jerk!" Rogue whipped her hair brush at him. He rolled over to dodge it, disturbing Homeworks' light slumber.

"_Desole, chere, desole._" Pushing himself up to lean back against the headboard, Remy picked up the dog and placed him in his lap. "Jus' meant dat if we have t' do th' project, might as well do it right, _non_?"

"There's a wrong way?" Rogue lifted a brow, unsure of what he was getting at. She moved to the opposite end of the bed and turned towards the both of them, crossing her legs.

"We canpick out da houses in y' book, and then go look't 'em 'round town. We make a day o' it."

Rogue was hesitant. While there was no real point to what Remy was suggesting, there was no harm in it either. Except, of course, she'd be forced to spend the entire day with a guy who's goal in life seemed to be being as big of a pain in her ass as possible.

On the "Pro" side, she would have a perfect to excuse not to run the new Danger Room simulation with Logan (after all, it was _his_ class work she was doing). Since they would be out all day, they'd probably have to stop for food. She'd been meaning to stop by and see Wanda and the boys, and Remy would probably enjoy a visit with his best friend, Pyro.

The "Con" side was pretty simple. Remy would probably see this as some sort of victory over her (she was officially the last single hold out against the Cajun 'charm' as the girls had been calling it - even Kitty had succumbed. Of course, he hadn't hurt anybody, nor was he sleeping around, he just like to show the girls a good time). Even if she said it _wasn't _a date, there was no doubt in her mind he would still see it as such.

Not that she really minded going on a date, mind you, she would just really hate to lose this game they seemed to be playing. That they had been playing since the moment he had arrived at the mansion. Since that day, he had made it a practise to ask her out at least once a day, even offering to dump his current fling-of-the-moment if he already had a date for the night.

Still, she _really_ didn't want to play this weeks version of Extermination Tag Logan had conceived in that twisted mind of his.

"P'wees, Mamma?" Rogue looked up from her thoughts to see Remy had picked up Homework so that their faces were close together and had stuck his bottom lip out, pouting. They looked so...damned adorable Rogue ignored the fact the Remy was talking to her in 'baby-voice'.

"How can ah say no tah a face like that?" She smiled, reaching out and tucking her fingers under Homeworks chin. She flicked her eyes to Remy, who was still pouting, then back to Homework. "Ya pa, howeva, should be told how pathetic he looks."

"'M not pathe'ic! 'M endearing."

"If that's what help ya sleep at night, Swamp Rat. Speakin' of which," She turned to look at the clock at the head of the bed, "According tah the baby handbook Logan gave us, it's passed little Misters bed-time."

"But...'t's only eight."

"And he was supposed tah be in bed over a half hour ago."

Remy sighed. "Not tired."

"_Ya_ don't have tah got tah sleep. Just the dog. Though, ah wouldn't recommend leavin' the room."

"Why not?" He looked down at the puppy in his arms, worried. "He gonna get inta som' kinda trouble?"

"Nawt really. 'Less ya could peeing all over ya bed 'trouble'." She shrugged innocently. "Wha's the matta Rems? Ya gotta hot date?" Rogue waggled her eyebrows, grinning.

"Course not!" Remy look suitably offended. "'M not leavin' m' boy on our firs' night toge'der f'r some floozy."

"Oh, right. I should have known." She smirked, standing and gesturing for him to do the same. With a heavy, over-exaggerated he leisurely extracted himself from her bed.

"Fine, fine. I know whe' 'm not wanted."

"If ya knew that, ya'd spend a lot less time aroun' meh."

"Nah. Y' wan' me, we'ter y' know it or not." Before she could continue their verbal sparing, he held the pup out towards her. "Now kiss y' boy _bon nuit._"

With an eye roll and extreme caution, Rogue pushed her hair outta of her face and bent to place a small kiss on the top of Homework's head.Excited, Homework attempted to turn his head to kiss her back.

Rogue had never moved so fast in her entire life. She jumped back so hard she almost fell but, as if by some miracle, Remy was there to catch her arm and keep her from falling.

"Steady, _chere_." When she looked more stable, he slowly released her. "_Vous bien?_"

"Ah...he almost...ah woulda-"

"But y' didn'." Remy stopped her before she could get herself all worked up. "Y' were careful, 'nd look!" He ruffled the unharmed, oblivious puppy. "No harm, no foul."

"If he'da licked meh-"

"Den we'd be dealin' wit' dat. But _he didn't_. E'erytin's jus' fine. Breathe."

"Don't tell meh what tah do." She snapped at him.

"Dat's _ma fille._" In his arms, Homework squirmed and whined. Rogue reached out and rubbed his ear, quieting him instantly. Remy looked impressed, but Rogue just blushed lightly, pulling her arm away.

"He likes that. B'hind his ears."

"'E'd pro'ly like it more if y' didn' have y' glove on."

"Remy..." She started. "Don't push meh."

"No push! But y' can touch 'is fur, no problem, _nien_?"

Knuckling under the pressure of Remy's undeniable kindness and truth, she reluctantly slid her glove off, and placed her hand lightly on the scruff of his neck, carefully avoiding the puppy's nose and tongue. She counted silently to five before removing her hand and re-donning her glove.

"Happy?"

"Ecstatic." He gave her a small and, for maybe the first time she'd ever noticed, _real_ smile. "Congrats, _chere._"

"Good night, Remy." She stressed giving him a tiny shove in the shoulder toward the door.

"See y' in da morn'in, Roguey." Using the stealth he'd had ingrained into him since childhood, he was out of her room and half way down the hall before she even realized.

"Don't call meh 'Roguey'!" Was all he heard on his way down the stairs. "An' ah ain't your girl, neither!"

"Hmmm." Remy grinned at Homework as he sat the pup on the floor, allowing him to follow. "Y' mamma got a crazy scary memory d'ere junior. Let's ne'er piss 'er off, kay?"

A tiny yip was all Remy got in agreement.

****

One of the nice things about practically the whole floor to yourself was that in the morning, if your so chose, you could turn your music up as high as you wanted and get no complaints (except the ones that came from Wolverine, but she usually just ignored those ones).

And for Rogue, there was just something about the beat of a good song that just got her up and moving around in the mornings. No big, fancy dance moves, but a little bit of head bobbing, shoulder shrugging, hip shaking and singing lightly along to your favourite songs as you got dressed and put on your make up and BAM! Insta-good mood.

"Check out Miss Lazy-brains!" Kitty appeared at her door.

Rogue simply laughed. "What are you doing up? It ain't noon yet. Bobby mess with ya alarm clock again?"

"I do not sleep in till noon!" Kitty stomped her foot. "And, yes, he did. He said if he had to get up then so did I. But you....you're usually up for hours by now."

"I dunno." Rogue shrugged. "Skipping Logan's Danger experience ta'day so figured ah could stock up on rest."

"Good plan." Kitty nodded her head back down the stairs. "I'm gonna go catch the tail end of the boys' torture. Logan should be letting them out soon."

"Ah'm gonna go get something tah eat. See ya later, Kit."

Still riding the funky-music mood, Rogue bop-she-bopped her way down the stairs to find both Remy and Homework waiting for her. Homework ran at her excitedly, with small playful barks. Laughing, she swooped down and picked him up as he tried to run past her.

"Gotchya ya little rascal!" Swirling around in a circle, they came to rest facing Remy. She looked at the guy, confused/concerned. "You okay?"

He stood, almost wobbling in front of her, bags under his eyes, his left hand bandaged. He looked so bad she almost didn't notice the picnic basket he held in his right hand.

"Jus' tired, chere." He his attempt at a smile was foiled by a yawn. "Don' worry 'bout me. Y' in a good mood?"

"Mmmhmmm." She nodded, deciding to let it drop - for now. She eyed the basket. "Now, enlighten me, just what is that?"

"Dis?" Remy held up the basket, jiggling it. "Lunch, o' course."

"Lunch, huh?" She placed one hand on her hip as she let Homework slip to the floor. The puppy sat dutifully by his mamas leg. "If Ah didn't know ya any better Mr. LeBeau, Ah'd have tah be accusin' ya of having some kinda 'intentions'."

"'Intentions?' _Moi?_ 'Course not!" He gave her a saucy grin, and threw in a wink for good measure. "Jus' 'cause we married now don' mean we can't date!"

"Oh, Cajun." Rogue just shook her head, and gave him a light pat on the face. "How you amuse me." Her voice was dry.

""s my lifes goal t' see y' _belle sourire_."

"Charmer." She spoke with affection. "But, ah'm actually sorry tah say, ah found a snag in our plans." She almost let out a giggle (_almost!_) when his face dropped so dramatically.

"Y' don' wanna go?"

"Oh, no!" Rogue shook her head. "It's nawt that! It's the little mister here." She jerked her head in the direction of the pup. "He won't be able tah come inta th' houses with us."

"Oh." Remy breathed a sigh of relief. "Dat's all?"

"It's kinda a big problem, Rem."

"We jus' need us a sitter is all. Wha' 'bout da _chaton?_"

"Nah, Kits been having..." Rogues eyes widened and an excited smile exploded across her face. "Ah know the _perfect_ guy for the job." She grabbed the pup. "Be right back!"

****

Rogue was looking forward to this. She was excited. She was practically _giddy_. She kneeled down til she was face to face with Homework.

"Okay, Mister. Mama needs ya tah sit here quietly, okay?" she spoke in a hushed voice. "No matter what ya here. Ya got me?"

Homework started to wag his tail.

"Good boy." She patted his head before standing. She straightened her back and squared her shoulders.

***Bang******Bang******Bang***

From inside the room she heard a thump, like someone threw something at the door. Hiding her smile, she knocked again. This time she heard a growl and six angry foot steps towards the door. And finally, the door was viciously ripped open by a rabid Wolverine.

"What?!?!" He barked out. He was more than a little surprised when Rogue strong armed her way into his bedroom, shoving him aside.

"Don't _what_ me ya over grown...._racoon!_"

"What did you just call me?"

"Ya got sleep in ya ear, boy?"

"Boy?" Logan mumbled to himself, now completely confused by this whole encounter. "Rogue, what's going on?"

"That's exactly what ah came here at ask you!" She spun around into what Logan had deemed the verbal-attack position - one hand on the hip, the other resting at her side, ready for anything. Head cocked slightly to the left, eyes intensely boring into your very soul.

Even the mighty Wolverine slightly feared this particular stance.

"A dog, Logan? Really? What the hell were ya thinking?!"

With a sigh Logan rubbed his face. "Haven't we already been through this, darlin'?"

"Oh don't you _dare_ 'darling' me, Mister...mister...."She stopped. "Ah can't think of a witty enough thing you say right now, but trust meh, if I had you'd been shocked. Outraged! Scandalized, ah tell ya! An' mah point woulda been -" All Rogue's bluster and indignation deflated. "Ya treat meh different Logan. Ya're harder on meh. Ya make meh do things _you're_ not even sure ah can handle...Ah just wanna know why."

"Alright, Stripes. Since ya seem so intent on having this conversation _right this very moment_, have a seat." When she did just that, he took a moment to readjust himself into conversation mode.

Normally, he would have been up for a few hours by now, but Xavier had asked him to scope out some lab just down the coast. He hadn't made it back till late, and he had had to run a danger room session with a few of the boys who'd thought it would be acceptable to steal all of the underwear out of the girls dormitory. And when he had finally got himself into bed, all he could hear was Rogue's blasted music screaming through the halls. In short, he believed this conversation would have been better held in a couple hours....but the look on Rogue's face told him that wasn't going to happen.

"I expected this from you earlier. Yesterday morning, actually."

"As wasn't pissed then. Ah'm pissed _now_."

"Watch yer language."

"That's funny, comin' from you."

"Stripes-"

"No! No cutesy nicknames. No brush-offs. I want the truth."

_Cutesy?_ He must really be losing his edge.

"Do you hare meh?" She continued. "Are you punishing meh for something?"

"Hate you?" _What the hell..._ "Who...what makes you think that?!"

"You push meh, so hard. Push, push, push! Ya make me push back at the point ah can't even _think_ straight ah'm so tired and weak. An' then ya push me some more! Why?"

"Cruel to be kind." For the life of him, Logan had no idea why it was those _particular_ words that pooped out of his mouth. Later, he was going to blame this whole conversation on sleep deprivation.

"Ah-" Rogue stopped. "What?"

"I...uh." Logan swallowed. Oh well, it was out there. Might as well run with it. "I said, cruel to be kind-"

"Means that I love ya?"

Now it was Logans turn to pause. "What?"

"You quoted a song." She started humming. "Cruel to be kind, means that I love ya, cruel to be kind - it's a very good sign?" She couldn't keep the smirk off her face. "I was listening to it this morning."

As soon as she said it, he had to repress a groan. Great, now the damned thing would be running through his head all _freaking_ day.

"No, I didn't." The denial came a little to quickly to be believable.

"Oh, ya did too! Next ya'll be tellin' meh - 'Don't Talk Tah Strangers', or 'Ya Didn't Start The Fire'."

Logan had thought he was lost in this conversation before, but now...he wasn't even sure they were speaking the same language.

"If ya didn't want to talk, Logan, ya coulda simply said so." When she turned to leave so...dejectedly...that he stopped her against his better judgment.

"Stri- Rogue. That's not it at all. It's...I push you, because you don't push _yourself_ near as hard as ya should." He placed a paternal hand on her shoulder. "I know....you know, hell, _everyone_ knows you can do whatever you put your mind to. And I care enough to show you what you can do. Whether you think you can or not."

"Pft." Rogue waved a disbelieving hand at him. "You don't care."

"Aw, come on, kid. Ya know that's not true. I...care," Logan cringed. God, this was sappy. "About all you kids. Never doubt that. Yeah, I'm a _little_ harsh, but at the end of the day..." He gave her a small smile, ducking his head to make sure she saw it. "...I'd do anything for ya."

"Anything?" She sniffled.

"Anything."

And just like that, Rogues entire demeanour changed. "Ya have no idea how long ah wanted tah hear ya say that!" She beamed, tears _completely_ gone, as she turned away from him and practically _skipped_ to the door. Grabbing a bag Logan hadn't spotted before, Rogue gave a short whistle as she came back into the room.

"Ah need ya tah watch Homework for a couple a' hours." She shoved the bag at him. "Here's his food. An' his treats. But he doesn't get any a those till after noon, cause he already ate, an' not after four or it'll ruin his dinner. He eats dinner at six. If ah'm not back by then, his bed time is seven thirty, an' not a moment later, no matter how cute a look his gives ya." She nodded, heading towards the door. "Not sure when we'll be home, if ya have any problems leave a message on mah cell, see y'all later. Homework be good for gramps."

And then she was gone, leaving a stunned Logan standing there holding the bag. Literally. He looked down at the dog, who's tongue was hanging out and tail was thumping loudly on the floor.

_What the __**hell**__ just happened?_

"Gramps?"

* * *

Lordy, lordy, lordy - the whole Logan/Rogue convo took me _**forever**_**. **Yeesh.

Song References: Cruel To Be Kind - Letters To Cleo

Don't Talk To Strangers - Hedley

We Didn't Start The Fire - Billy Joel

Also, there's a poll up on my profile now!

Next chapter? Remy's POV!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author Rant about hot guy that you may skip, with her permission-**

First off, before I say anything, has anyone here ever seen/heard of Tom Pelphrey? If not, you _should._ Look him up. But really, only with long hair...he's not _quite_ as attractive when it's short. Now, imagine him with red on black eyes and a Cajun accent. Remy, non? I mean no offence to Taylor Kitch, who will always be a winner in my book, because he's Canadian. I just really didn't appreciate the movies particular incarnation of Gambit, which was not his fault. But, back to Tom. I love him. I am completely in love with him. I melt every time he smiles and get chills every time he goes psychotic. Oh, sorry, did I forget to mention he's currently playing Mick Dante/James Steinbeck on As The World Turns? HAWT. (Not the James thing. It's creepy if you know whats going on.)

**----Rant complete....for now.**

This chapter took so long to come out for a very stupid reason: I knew it was going to be a long chapter, which I dreaded, so I kept putting it off. Which, effectively means it took me three times as long to write. Bangladesh! And it's much shorter than I originally intended.

There's not a whole lot of dialogue in this one, mostly because we rarely see anything from Remy's point of view in this story, and I really wanted to did a hole inside of his brain...figuratively, of course.

And then Rogue got nostalgic. Oy, with the poodles already!

In America, is it called the front room, or the living room?

On with the story!

* * *

Remy had the worst sleep in the history of all bad sleeps.

Okay, so that _may_ have been an exaggeration. But it was bad. First, little to no sleep was actually had. Homework, bless his tiny furry face, was a pain in the ass. And that was no exaggeration.

When they got to his room, the pup curled himself up on to Remy's pillow, no problem. It was still early for Remy, but taking Rogue's warning to heart, he decided to stay in for the night. A couple of video games later, he went to sleep...for about 6.5 seconds before he heard a slight whining sound coming from his feet. It was Homework, wanting under the blankets. No problem.

Less than five minutes later, he started moving around again. Under Remy's legs. On Remy's back. But it wasn't until he tried to sleep on Remy's face did Remy sense there was a problem. Remy shoved the dog back under the blankets and once again attempted to fall back to sleep.

This time he was awoken (is it even called that if you haven't completely gone to sleep yet?) by whining. Again. Only this time it was louder and accompanied by a scratching on his door. Reluctantly, Remy got out of bed. Maybe the pup had to pee?

Nope. That wasn't it. Which Remy found out by stepping in a puddle of warm urine. Oh joy.

After extracting the wet socks (and shoving them into the very bottom of his laundry basket), he decided to see what Homework's problem was by opening the door and seeing what the hell it was he wanted.

_That_ was how Remy found himself outside Rogue's door at two in the morning. With a sigh, he scooped Homework up.

"Good t'ing da Claws no' a' home t'night. Or y' _pere_'d be chopped inta t'morr' nights dinner f'r sure." Ruffling the dogs hair as he padded back to his room he laughed quietly to himself. "G'figure y' a momma's boy."

Sadly, their little trip did absolutely nothing to solve Remy's problem, as the moment he closed his bed room door, Homework started crying again.

Normally, Remy is a very patient, caring kinda guy. And he love Homework. But at three-thirty in the morning, when all he really wanted was sleep, it was really hard to find that part of him.

And that was how Homework ended up locked in his bathroom (with a blanket! Remy was tired, not cruel.).

All this did was muffle the sound.

At about four in the morning, figuring since he was up anyway (having never actually gotten to sleep) he might as well make breakfast for the boys who had ended up taking the rap for his awesome job of stealing all of the underwear out of the girls dormitory.

Him and Homework made omelettes and toast for Kurt, Bobby and Sam. Remy was 'in the zone' cutting up the ham when Kitty popped up out of nowhere, effectively slicing through the serenity of his groove.

And the palm of his hand.

"Oh my god! Remy, I'm like, _so _sorry!" Kitty grabbed his hand and put it over the sink, trying to keep any more of the blood from spilling all over the food - food that was now inedible. Remy just stood in shock while he watched to blood literally pour down the sink as Kitty held it underwater.

"T's fine, _chaton_ - mebe we should..." He gulped. " Is it supposed to bleed like that?"

"Remy, are you okay?" Kitty took a quick inventory. Face? Pale. Stature? Wobbly. "Do you have a problem with blood?"

"'Snot blood in gener'l, _petite. _'M jus' not very good wit' m' own." Kitty was forced to catch him before he fell to the floor, and walk him to a chair, all the while holding a clothe to the cut.

"Look at that. Almost gone." Kitty giggle to herself, unsure of what to say as Remy fought off the effects of the blood loss (not the amount, just the seeing it) dizziness. She looked around to see the boys had all quickly vacated the room once the prospect of breakfast was ruined for them.

"T'anks." Remy lifted his head. "T'ink I got it fr'm here." He eyed the room and once he saw the blood on the counter felt ill all over again. Kitty took pity on the poor guy.

"How about I clean the kitchen, and you can go bandage that up?"

Remy was so grateful, he could have kissed her, but his nausea kept him from doing anything of the sort.

By the time he got back, Kitty had the entire kitchen cleaned up, and had even made him some plain toast to settle his stomach. It was burnt, of course but since that was the least bad thing that had happened to him all morning - he ate it happily.

He gave Kitty a examining look.

"D' y' know what Rogue t'inks about picnics?"

*****

When Rogue came back from dropping Homework off with the smile of a cat that ate the canary while it wasn't looking, Remy felt kinda bad for whoever had fallen victim to her this morning.

But he also felt a hell of a lot better about himself. So far, Rogue was in a pretty good mood. All he had to do was keep her that way and everything would be fine -

Three hours later, Remy was very surprised at the turn his day had taken. Yes, he was still tired. Yes, his hand kinda hurt like a mo-fo. _But_ Rogue was laughing. And not just _at _him, but _with_ him.

"...smelled like rotten socks." Rogue's nose crinkled She gave him a playful swat. "How could ya think ah'd wanna live there?"

"Dunno." Remy shrugged. "T'oght y' might enjoy da ambience."

"Ya mean the wailing sirens, the cryin' babies and the screaming couple next door?"

"Don' tell _moi _it didn' remin' y' of living in da mansion." Remy lifted an eyebrow as Rogue thought about it.

"Oh Gawd, it does too." She snickered behind her glove. "Even the smell kinda reminded meh of Kurt, poppin' in an' out all the tahm." She absently rubbed her stomach before sneaking a look at her phone. She slipped it back into her pocket quickly. "Dang...ah think ah'm hungry now."

"Hows about one las' house an' d'en we eat?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Mr. and Mrs. LeBeau?" A slightly heavyset Indian man waved them towards a house. Remy watched as Rogue fought not to roll her eyes. He'd had the bright idea to call a real estate agent to show them around and the best way to get people to take them seriously was to claim to be a married couple.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and almost laughed out loud when she stuck her tongue out at him, but didn't remove his arm. His hand grabbed hers and held it over her stomach area. This way it would be hard to miss the matching gold bands they wore.

They weren't really wedding rings. Well, they might have been, but Remy had them for situations just like this one - when it would be easier to get what he wanted if he was married. Truth be told, they weren't used all that often.

The man, Mr. Randleman (_Please, call me Kahlo_), beckoned then forward. Rogue stopped just outside the gate.

"Somet'ing wrong?"

"Uh, no." Rogue shook her head. "This house is gorgeous." And it really was...But before she could say anything about the prices Remy grabbed her arm.

"Jus' imagine what it looks like fr'm th' inside." He lead her through the gate. "Or better yet, go an' _see_ it."

Remy hadn't really though about it before. A house, a home. He'd always been just _told_ where he would live - the Thieves Guild, the Acolyte base, even the X-mansion. But seeing Rogue in such a...domestic....setting gave him warm fuzzies. She gripped him hand tightly, trying to contain her excitement. It was a good thing they weren't actually buying, because she wasn't doing a very good job.

"Oh..." Rogue gasped. "Remy, look at the back yard! And the kitchen...oh, Remy. It's so beautiful."

"You like what you see, no?" The agent gave them a knowing look. All to late Rogue pulled herself together.

"It's okay."

"Hmmm." He smile like a man staring at a huge pile of money. "You look up stairs. You like what you see."

Rogue not so subtly pulled on his arm towards the stairs. "That guy gives me the creeps." She whispered. He held back a laugh. He found himself getting caught up in her enthusiasm as they checked out the rest of the house.

"This would be our room." She declared. He liked it. It was spacious with out being ostentatious. There was a large window facing the backyard, and a closet Rogue said Kitty would envy.

He watched as she threw herself backwards onto the bed. "To bad its outta our price range, huh?" She looked so crestfallen by the thought he almost told her that not only could they afford this place - but the could afford it without ever even looking at her savings and/or 'allowance' they were given by the professor. Not only could they _afford_ it - they could buy it, furnish it, paint every room, build on an extension...etcetera, etcetera - all without putting more than a tiny dent in his bank account.

It wasn't that he was keeping it a secret. And she would find out soon enough. It was just kind of...embarrassing.

Because if she knew how much money he had, she'd wanna know where it came from. And while Rogue knew that he was a thief, and had come from a family of thieves, he wasn't completely sure she understood what that meant exactly.

And he kinda liked the way she was looking at him now.

"...the living room."

"_Desole_...wha'?"

She grinned at him in a way that told him she knew something he didn't and he desperately wished he had been listening to her instead of thinking so much (which, ironically, was something he was told he didn't do near enough of).

"We're gonna eat here, swamp rat. We'll picnic in th' livin' room. The real 'state guy already said that'd be okay."

_When had she even left the room?_ Apparently this whole 'thinking' thing didn't work out for him as much as the Professor seemed to think it would.

They said their good-byes to Kahlo, promising to be in touch. They were reminded to turn the lock box on when they were done and that if they had any questions, all the had to do was call.

The inside of the house was bare. With the exception of a few furnishings (beds, fridge, and a table), it was empty. Rogue told him she preferred it that way.

"Ah like th' idea of puttin' my own stuff in a place, ya know?"

He'd agreed, mostly because he didn't have an opinion either way, and they settled on to the carpeted room. There were no chairs, so there was no real point to sitting in the kitchen, and this way they had a view of the entire neighbourhood just outside the window.

Rogue sat cross legged, checking her phone, as he passed her the plates he had made up. They weren't anything special, really. Just things he had found in the fridge and thrown together. Chicken from last nights dinner. Corn he had found that he couldn't remember anyone making but it didn't smell all that bad so he figured _what the hell?_. The pie Tante Mattie had sent up what had almost fallen entirely apart on the trip, but still made a fine apple crumble.

She looked at him almost suspiciously, but excepted the food anyway. He had to keep from sighing loudly. He knew what she was thinking...And he also knew why she wasn't saying anything. _She_ thought that _he _thought that this just _might_ be a date.

And while he was occasionally delusional, he wasn't a total idiot. They were just friends (_kinda/sorta/maybe?_), and they happened to be working on a project that put them together more often than usual.

Rogue had made that all very clear, and she hadn't even had to say a word.

"Ah like this place." Rogue interrupted his musings.

"Really? Couldn't tell." He teased, which resulted in her giving him a playful shove.

"Ah mean it!" She looked around the room, as if memorising every detail. "If it was aft'a graduation an' ah had the cash, ah'd snatch up this place ina heartbeat."

"Wha' 'bout da X-men?"

"The mansions less than a ten minute walk away. Three if ah's in a hurry."

"Y' t'inkin' o' movin' out den?"

"Maybe." She shrugged. "Prolly won't find a place good as this though. Side's...." She smiled up at him. "Logan'd be draggin' meh back by the skin of mah hair, ah'd imagine."

He chuckled along with her.

"Ah just sick of the whole 'group mentality' we got going on there, ya know? Nawt that ah don't love everyone - just sick of knowin' and having everyone else knowin' everyone else's business, ah guess." She watched him thoughfully. "What about you Rems?"

"Hien?"

"What are ya gonna do once ya've graduated."

Remy paused for a moment. "Dunno. Never really t'ought 'bout I' much ta be honest."

"Hmm..." Rogue hummed, mostly to herself, laying back on the carpet to stare up at the ceiling. "Sometimes it's all ah can think about."

Rogue was a real beauty. The kind that's hard to find - the kind that's got so much beauty inside it can't help but pour itself into everything she did.

Remy knew that she had no idea how much he watched her. He knew this because she hadn't killed him quite yet. He didn't watch her in the creepy stalker way...more in the way a man stands at the edge of the sea, marvelling at its vastness and contemplating the beauty and mystery the world had to behold.

He liked the way she moved. She was...fluid in motion. Not just her ass (although, that was mighty fine too), but every part of her. When she fought (if it wasn't for all the bodies, blood and mayhem) it was as if she was dancing to a music only she could hear. She used her whole body even for the most mundane of tasks - closing a door with her hip, opening cabinets with her feet when her hands were occupied. She could be small enough to fit through the densest hole, and large enough to stop an army of hungry teenagers all at the same time.

He loved the way she moved. He loved the way her eyes flashed when she was angry. The way the sparkled when she was happy, and full of un-containable laughter. The glow they got when she played with the younger students.

He loved the way...Oh, hell. He just loved _her_.

"Rogue..." He started, surprising even himself. She just turned her head to look at him. She looked relaxed, and content. His mouth clamped shut.

"Remy..." She mocked, trying to push him into continuing.

"Why d'y' like dis place so much?" Were the words that rushed their way out of his mouth. She raised an eyebrow at him before moving back into her prior position. When she didn't answer for a few moments, Remy thought she wasn't going to answer.

"Home." She said, and then nodded. "It reminds meh of when ah was little, maybe five or six. Way before ah knew who ma...Mystique really was, and she was still livin' with meh an' Irene. Ah'd only been adopted a few month before an' we all had tah move into a bigger house." She laughed to herself. Remy pulled his knees up to his chest and just watched her without speaking, afraid he'd break her out of whatever back-flash she was having.

"Ah thought they were gonna leave meh in the old house, when they firs' told meh they were movin'. Ah think I cried for som'thang lahk, four days straight? Least, that's the way Irene would tell it. But we moved inta this new house, and it was...perfect. A big yard an' a room all tah mahself. Ah'd neva had that before. Ah'd always had tah share with the other kids in foster care. Now, ah had mah own bed, mah own toys. They built meh a swing set in the back yard. And we were happy there." Suddenly her face closed down and she got up to reach for a desert. "Then ah turned twelve, we moved, Mystique left, ah grew up and here we are."

"Chere-"

"Pass the whipped cream, would ya swamp rat?" And just like that, share time came to an end.

They started cleaning up not long after.

Yes. He loved Rogue. Or at least he liked her _a lot._ A lot, a lot. But you never tell a girl you can't even get to date you that you might be in love with her. Especially girls like Rogue, who ran at the first mention of any probable emotional entanglement. Not that, with her past, he really blamed her for being wary of people who claimed to care about you. Hell, even he felt the same way...

But with Rogue...Even though she loved and trusted her new family (Logan, Kitty, Kurt, ect...) to a point, she would never give them everything. If someday, they betrayed her, hurt her, left her, she wouldn't be shocked. It would hurt, but she'd shrug it off all the while telling herself _'I told you so'._ And no one would ever have to know that her heart was in shreds.

When he first joined the X-school, she had been angry at him. He could feel it every time she would look at him - but it would never show. She smiled. Greeted him with a friendly "Welcome to Mutant High" and a pat on the shoulder in place of the hug she would never trust herself to give _anyone._ That was the first day he asked her out.

To which she responded with laughter. Not nervous laughter, but the real full belly kind that you just can't fake.

He turned around and asked out the nearest female by the end of the week(which turned out to be a pleasant little red head.). It wasn't revenge _per say_ but he was a little offended at her response.

He continued to ask her out nearly everyday, but not seriously. If had become a joke between the two of them...a reason to speak with her everyday. He'd tackle her in the Danger Room and threaten not let her up until she said yes. He'd shout it down the halls.

The next time he asked her out for real, was almost four and a half months after he had moved in to the mansion. She was reading in the library with the _chaton_ when he came in with a single deep blue rose (because red was over done). He tucked it behind her ear, kissed her gloved hand and more nervously than he had done anything in his life opened his mouth. But before he could utter a syllable, she held a hand up in his face and told him to peddle his wares else where because she wasn't buying.

So he kissed Kitty, right there in front of her. Not a small peck either. It was a kiss made to be shown. When he finally released her, Rogue, and her books, were gone. He almost blew up a chair before Kitty talked him into calming down. She was only a little miffed about being used to get someone else's attention, because she knew him, and Rogue. She shook her head sadly at him, disappointed he had stooped so low. She ended up going out with him any way. During dinner she asked him how Rogue was supposed to know _this_ time was different from every other time he had asked.

So the next time he asked her out (for real), he really thought hard about it. What he could do differently. By now, he had been living in the mansion for over eight months. He didn't ask her out for two whole weeks. In fact, he practically avoided her. He wasn't ashamed to say he wanted her to miss him.

With Kitty in his corner this time, he was sure he couldn't lose. She told him when the perfect time to ask was (when she missed him just enough, but wasn't pissed that she hadn't seen him).

With rose in hand, plans in mind, and muttering to himself over and over _third times a charm,_ he knocked on her door. She looked so happy to see him, he couldn't help but waste a little time ragging on her. It turned out to be time he had needed, because just as the words were about to leave his mouth they heard her name being called down the stairs. _Some __**guy**__ is here to see you_, the teasing voice called from the door. _He's so big and strong...Check out those arms! Yummy!...Says his names...Warren?_ An excited smile covered Rogue's face and she ran down the stairs shouting something about an angel and altogether forgetting Remy was even there.

That was the first night Remy slept with Tabitha. As far as he knew, Rogue didn't know about them, and he sort of hoped it stayed that way. It later turned out Angel/Warren was a friend. But what was done was done. He was hopelessly in love with one woman, and involved with another. Not that he and Tabby were anywhere near serious. She knew all about Rogue and was even willing to help him 'tap that'.

Now, three months later, they had settled into being friends. Sort of. He was her friend, if she ever needed him, anyway. He continued to ask her out every day, a cocky grin on his face, his heart breaking into smaller pieces.

But if he wanted to be around her at all, this was the way it was gonna have to be. And that was fine with him.

***

Because everyone Remy like to do things loud and proud, no one even looked up as the front door slammed open and he stomped quickly up the stairs like a tiny elephant. And because everyone knew no one could get under Rogue's skin quite like Remy they were barely phased as she ran in after him, screaming, slamming the door closed and following him up the stair.,

"_Remy LeBeau! You give that back!"_

Bobby turned to Sam. "Ten bucks says they're talking about her bra."

Sam just shook his head.

***

"Ah mean it!" Rogue held out her hand, waiting. Remy was currently on the ground, with her foot on his chest. She was faster than he remembered. "Give it back."

"Aww, chere! Jus' wanna know who y' be tex'ing _all_ day."

"Ah told ya." She spoke calmly as she added more pressure. "Ah was textin' Wanda tah let her know we wouldn' be stopping' in cause _somebody's_ a big cry baby an' didn't get any sleep last night."

"'Kay." When he tried to sit up he was rewarded with the _conk_-ing sound of skull hitting hardwood floor. "Now, 'm sure dat true 'bout da last ones, but what 'bout da ones y' be'n hiddin' fr'm m' all day?"

Her eyes widened and she back up, allowing him to sit up. "Ah don't know _what_ ya'r talkin' about."

"Dat wh' I t'ought." Remy opened the phone, only to have Rogue rush at him.

"Give it tah meh!"

"Wanna see..."

"That's mahn!"

Remy got Rogue on her back and laid his stomach over hers, effectively holding her down (unless she wanted this to because a real match). She drummed her fists on his back, but it did nothing to deter him from looking through her phone. When he saw what it was she had been 'hiding' he sat up off her abruptly. She didn't move from her spot.

"Can ah have it back now?"

"Y' know Rogue...Dis isn't a bad thing."

"Ah know its not." She snatched the phone back. "Ah jus'...."

"Y' were worried. 'S a normal reaction tah leavin' y' youngun 'lone wit' out y' f'r da firs' time."

"Ah wasn't worried! Ah knew he'd be fahn with Logan or ah wouldn't have left him with 'im."

"Rogue-"

"Just cause I got Kitty tah check in on them a couple o' times-"

"27."

"-doesn't mean ah was worried." She shoved the phone back in her pocket. "And three of those were Wanda."

"Y'-"

"Remy! Drop it!"

"Maybe we shoul' go rescue Logan fr'm da pup, non?"

She laughed, leading the way to Logans bedroom. What they found there was...too shocking to speak of.

Logan was crouched on the ground, looking ready to pounce. About three feet in front of him, stood Homework who was also crouched, front legs down and butt in the air. They seemed to be regarding each other with suspicion and a little humor. When Homework gave a bark and jumped forward a few times. As if scared, Logan jumped back, causing the puppy to get excited and bark some more before running to the far side of the room. With the cutest grown Rogue had ever heard coming from Logan, he kinda...leapfrogged after Homework.

Homework ran under the bed, and spooked Logan by running through his legs. Logan caught him, sweeping his paws out from under him.

"Are you _wrestling_ with mah dog?!"

Rogue's voice came before Logan had even noticed the two of them. He looked up at them from the floor, both shocked and the tiniest bit horrified.

"Uh...Hey, Stripes....We were just...I..."

Remy could have sworn the man was blushing. Rogue bent down and Homework ran straight into her arms.

"Ah know what ya were doin'." She managed to sound stern and disappointed but Remy could see the corners of her lips pulling upwards, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. She shared a look with him and her eyes were sparkling with contained laughter. He couldn't resist a grin at the now pale Logan.

"I...I..." Logan continued to stutter, wishing he would stop, but unable to think of anything to explain himself in a way that he would be able to keep Rogue's respect and Remy's fear.

Finally breaking Rogue walked to Logan with Homework in her arms. "Thanks Logan." She kissed her gloved fingers and then pressed them to his cheek, effectively stopping the stuttering. He stared at her while she half-grinned up at him. She looked back at the dog, and shook his paw in a wave. "Say, buh-bye Grampa Logan. Buh-bye."

Logan still hadn't said a word as the three of them left the room.

***

Remy held back a yawn as they marched their way up to Rogue's room. He was exhausted, the days activities finally catching up to him. He willed his eyes to stay open, as he flopped onto Rogue's bed.

Rogue sat Homework down beside him, and he immediately curled up against Remy's side. He was probably just as tired, seeing as how he hadn't had any sleep either, and had apparently spent the day turning hard-ass Logan in to a big softy.

Grabbing the pictures of the houses they had visited that day, Rogue sat on the bed as well, on the opposite side of Homework. They flipped through the books and chatted about the pros and cons of all of them, however, Remy's speaking was considerably over whelmed by his yawns.

Which was making her yawn.

By the time Logan called lights out, they had all been asleep for hours, all curled together on Rogue's bed.

* * *

*Phew* That...was painful. I hope it wasn't as hard to read as it was to write. If it was, I apologise. But to make it up to you, the next chapter is by Homeworks point of view (sorta...it'll make sense). It should be fun.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay. Um...A month. Yeah. I have no excuse. Well, sort of. It's at the bottom. But let's just get on with it.

* * *

Rogue was awoken early (even for her!) by her alarm clock on the following Friday morning. She threw a hand out haphazardly towards the sound of the obnoxious beeping and was rewarded by a **thunk** and a **spring**_**. **_Looked like she was going to need (another) new clock.

Remy, Kurt, Bobby, Tabby, Amara and Rogue had been signed up for survival training in the Canadian Rocky mountains with Scott and Jean for over the weekend. They were all _super_ excited about it.

Rogue moaned and pulled the blanket back over her head. Screw this.

Four minutes later there was a pounding on her door.

"_If you're not down stairs in sixteen minutes, full clothed, and fully packed-"_

"You'll what?" She hollered back. "Tell'em tah leave with out meh? What'd ya think ah was going for?"

"-_I'll send that brother of yours in to grab you and your bags, in what ever state you all happen to be in at the time!"_

"Logan, there's a chance I hate you."

"_No ya don't._ _See ya in fifteen._"

She reached for the closest thing to her, which turned out to be the hardcover book she'd finished reading the night before and chucked it at the door. The loud bang cause Homework to jump at her feet. She pulled him up to her chest.

"Aw, I'm sorry baby! Did momma scare you? Bad momma." She got out of the bed, and threw on some clothes. She wasn't even going to have time to shower!

She quickly threw all Homework's food and toys into a bag. When she was completely ready, she still had five minutes to spare.

She flipped open the journal they had been given last week and started writing.

_**Homeworks Journal - Day 8**_

_**Today my mommy and daddy are leaving for a trip. They won't be back until Sunday night, which means I have to spend two **__**whole**__** days without them. I think I will miss them as much as they miss me. But the good news is I get to spend the weekend with my aunty Kitty!**_

. . .

_**I love my aunty Kitty the best out of all my aunts! She is cool, and fun and sweet, and awesome and pink and pretty an **_

_**Aunty Kitty is a little crazy.**_

_**But still the coolest person I know.**_

_**And the craziest.**_

"Jube-i-lee!" Kitty screeched. "Rogue entrusted _me_ to look after Homer this weekend, and part of that is writing his journal!" She snatched the book back. "Me. Not you."

"Calm yourself _chica_." Jubilee grabbed the book back. "First of all, Rogue left him with you because we'd _both_ be here. And second of all...Homer?"

"Homework is such a stupid name." She pouted.

_**Aunty Kitty is a meany who makes fun of my name. I'm gonna tell my mommy on her.**_

"What are you writing in there?" Kitty strained her neck to look over the Asian girl's shoulder.

. . .

_**I got to go to the park today; it was so much fun! There were lots of other puppies, just like me. We chased sticks, dug holes and got a lot of attention from all the other mommy and daddies there. It makes me miss my mommy and daddy lots and lots. I was so sad that aunty Kitty had to bring me home.**_

_**I searched the whole house for them and couldn't find them. I guess I forgot they had to leave me for a bit. But aunty Kitty and aunty Jubilee did everything they could to make me feel better.**_

"He just looks so...sad." Kitty pulled Homeworks listless figure onto her lap. He looked up at her with such sad eyes she kinda wanted to cry. "What do we do?"

"Maybe...Maybe we should call Rogue." Jubilee hesitated to offer.

"No!" Kitty jumped up from where she was sitting and started pacing. "If Rogue found out he got so much as a hiccup while I was supposed to be taking care of him, she'd come back, kick my butt and never speak to me again!"

"I think you're being a little over dramatic, don't you?"

"You've met Rogue, right? Bout yay high, streaked hair? Southern temper the likes of Scarlett O'Hara would fear? Threw an egg at the most terrifying man ever born wielding his own knife set _and_ has the power to make the rest of your life a living hell? Cause _that's_ the Rogue _I'm_ talking about."

"You...do have a point." Jubilee frowned.

"Waaahhh!" Kitty covered her face with a pillow. "She's gonna kill me!"

"He's not even really sick! He just misses his folks. Maybe take him down to the play room, plenty of kids down there who'll take his mind off his troubles."

Kitty calmed herself down. "You're right. It'll be fine." She tucked Homework under her arm. "Won't it Homer? Everything's gonna be just fine."

_**Aunty Jubilee has decided she should look into getting psychological help for my mommy, since she's such a spaz. She's hoping that if mommy finds out from me, mommy won't **__**kill**__** Aunty Jubilee.**_

_**I had even more fun playing with my family than I did at the park! Everyone here is so much **_

_**The children were too noisy.**_

_**Grandpa**_

_**^Logan saved me when they weren't looking.**_

_**I appreciated it. **_

"Rogue is never gonna believe that you know."

"She's not here. She's gonna believe what we," Logan motioned to Homework with his foot, "tell her to believe."

_**Truthfully, Grandpa kidnapped me when no one was looking. And wouldn't tell them where I was when they asked if they had seen me. Even though they are all panicking. Three of the Jamie's were even crying.**_

"What are you writing in there?" Logan tried to reach for the journal only to have it snatched back by Storm. "Stop calling me Gramps!"

"I didn't call you Gramps." Storm went back to writing in the book. "I called you Grandpa."

_**The good news is that Storm was here to keep Grandpa sane and sent Hank after the kids so they wouldn't worry about me anymore. I must be a very special little boy for everyone to want to spend so much time with me. Grandpa even offered to take over babysitting me for the rest of the weekend! **_

"I never said any of this!" Logan looked at Storm confused.

"If you insist on keeping the dog away from the children then it will be your responsibility to take care of him."

"Stripes asked Kitty to look after him, that makes it _her_ responsibility. If she had asked me then it would have been _my_ responsibility." He was unconsciously stroking the puppy, who was curled up on his lap, napping.

"Tell me Logan, are you upset that I have obligated you to watch over Homework for the rest of the weekend - or are you upset Rogue never even asked you in the first place?"

"Why would _that_ upset me?" He growled.

"Hmm. Why would it indeed."

_**My grandpa loves me.**_

. . .

_**While I was supposed to be spending the night with my Grandfather, he, Aunt Ororro, and Beast where sent off on a mission. It is possible the Brotherhood are starting a - but that has nothing to do with me.**_

_**I will now be spending the night with Professor X. He tells me I am a very good boy, who listens well, and the professor thinks my parents should be proud of me and how fast I am learning.**_

Professor Xavier closed the journal and placed in in the drawer in his desk. He would finish Rogue's required written work in the morning.

The subject in question was currently curled up in a ball on Xavier's lap, fast asleep. He was, undoubtedly, completely exhausted from the days events - the park with the girls, holding the short attention spans of the younger children, and paling around the Professors most esteemed colleagues.

It was without question the Professor could see just how attached everyone had become to the tiny canine. Xavier himself was not excluded. Who could possibly have the nerve to steel your heart against the bright blue eyes and the happy tongue of a young pup? Certainly not he. **

Nor, it seemed, could Rogue. Which was what he had been counting on when he had discussed the possibility of this project with his colleagues. Both Scott and Jean had voiced their fear that he was being deliberately cruel - teasing her with something she could never have. Sufficed to say, Xavier was extremely disappointed in the both of them, one, for thinking he could ever intentionally hurt _any_ of his students and two, for seemingly believing that the Rogue truly was a lost cause.

Even Ororro and Hank had approached him, asking him to take caution with this particular endeavour.

It had been becoming so much that even he had began to doubt himself. That was until, one day, about three weeks ago, Logan had barged into his office.

"_Where's Rogue." It was a question that came out more like an order to comply._

Xavier was ashamed to admit he had no idea where she had been. Truth be told, once he had realized she had left the mansion, he had assumed she was out with Logan, as had happened in the past. However, his feral friend told him that this was not so.

Logan had taken off almost three days ago and due to the fact that he and Rogue often took off to places unknown, no one really thought anything of the fact that Rogue too had disappeared around the same time.

The students often wondered about the nature of these escapades, but the professor knew it to be for the sake of three things. Training (Rogue was now quite brilliant in swordplay as well as many other hand-to-hand combatitives). Recent absorption (as Rogue tended to over compensate for having a passive type power, Logan had been 'forced' to help her heal more than once - this usually lead to the both of them being severely ill-tempered*, and eventually, kicked out of the house by Ororro. There was also the side effect of dreams and memories - things only the two of them knew and had no inclination to speak of in front of any of the others), or Remy LeBeau (Logan made it a practise to keep the two of them as far apart as mutantly possible. Xavier found it all quite amusing. Gambit was very good at pushing all of Rogue's buttons in just the right sequence - Xavier wasn't convinced this was a bad thing either.).

It seemed that while Rogue had taken off at the same time as Logan (he had seen her that morning in the front yard) she had not taken off _with_ him. And no one had seen her since.

But out of sight did not entirely mean out of mind. Katherine 'Kitty' Price soon admitted that she had indeed been in contact with Rogue, by text, until the girl had stopped answering the night before. Apparently, the only two who had even noticed anything amiss with Rogue's disappearance were Kitty and Mr. LeBeau.

When they had initially contacted her they were informed she was spending some time with her former team-mates, The Brotherhood - something not totally unheard of, but then communication had been cut off nearly 15 hours earlier.

They had immediately made their way to the Brotherhood house to find it empty. Unwilling to 'tattle' on their friend, they held their mouths and hoped to hell she was alright, and that she made it home before Logan. They were both quick to confess once he came home though.

Logan was barely an inch from the front door, ready to go tearing threw the city looking for her, when the door was thrown open by an unseen hand.

It was The Brothers, Scarlet Witch and Pyro...carrying Rogue into the house.

They'd been attacked by an FOH group outside of the movie theatre the night before - Rogue had dispatched three of them before hit with what looked to be a cattle prod type instrument. She'd hit the ground in an instant. To keep Rogue's life out of danger, Wanda grabbed her and Pyro and they had hid in an abandoned warehouse. The others followed her.

Seeing no point in moving Rogue unless they had to, Pietro had kept watch on the mansion for Wolverine's return. The moment they saw him, they brought her back as quick as they could.

When asked why they hadn't brought her sooner, why they hadn't gotten her to their doctors, Xavier was shocked at the Scarlet Witches response.

"_I get that you're all her house mates or _whatever _but its pretty clear we know her better than you do. And the only person she would trust with her life is him." She pointed at the Wolverine. "And because I trust her with __**my **__life, I know that." She laughed at the lot of them with contempt. "Besides pipsqueak and charmer over there," she motioned to Kitty and Remy, "who even knew she wasn't here? Hrmph. Some __**family.**__"_

Not that they were entirely at fault. Rogue cut herself off from them and then expected the worse - which was what she got. This latest endeavour was proving to be a self-fulfilling prophecy - she needed them and no one cared enough to find where she was. After she was healed and checked over by Hank, she once again boarded herself up, away from everyone but Logan, inside her room.

Both Xavier and Logan felt that the pain Rogue may feel over this particular _homework_ was a risk they were going to have to take.

And while it didn't pan out quite the way he had hoped (Rogue needing help, having to turn towards her peer for guidance) he still stood by, figuratively speaking of course, his decision to bring the canine in. Even just last week she had spent the entire day with Remy LeBeau, a feat that would have been improbable merely 2 weeks before.

Xavier was impressed with her, seeing that spark in her that Logan had seen right off the bat. He was proud to call her his X-man. And seeing how much she cared for the pup...he had no doubt she would only grow into an even stronger young woman.

But that was only one of the reasons he had chosen to put Rogue through this particular task.

He reopened her journal and continued writing on into the night.

***

Rogue liked Scott. Really, she did. He was a nice guy whom, _sometimes_, was the littlest bit uptight about thing like...curfew, pranks and undue power usage.

But currently, Scott and his little wifey could go rot in a _stink hole_ for all she cared. _So_ she siphoned a _small_ amount of Kurt's power while he was asleep. _So_ she used said powers to enter his tent without him knowing and took their bags so that when they woke up in the morning they wouldn't be able to leave their tent and the kids would actually be able to have some _fun _on this trip. _So_ after she had pulled said prank and handed the bag off to Tabby she had headed down to the river to watch the moon glisten off the water and _accidentally_ fell asleep on the riverbed.

Oops?

But what right did that give him to ground her to the Blackbird for the rest of the mission? Like she was some child who couldn't be controlled.

Well she showed him all right.

She _stole_ the Blackbird.

Now she was claiming temporary insanity because, really, what the hell had she been thinking? Way to cry out for attention Rogue.

She'd only flew around in circles for a bit, before Logan contacted her.

"What do you think yer doing?" He'd asked.

"Scott said ah had tah stay in the Blackbird. He neva said it had tah be on th' ground."

"It was probably implied."

"Maybe he should learn tah be less subtle then."

"Rogue...you should probably put the jet down."

"Why hasn't Jean asked meh?"

"What?"

"S'not lahk she can't talk tah me fr'm here. Ah just above their heads."

"She said she couldn't get through. Some kind of blockage."

"Reallah?"

"Said if she didn't know any better she woulda guessed you absorbed Gambit."

"Huh." Rogue thought about that for a moment. "Ah didn't though, right?"

"He's fine."

"Good."

"Yep."

"Yep."

"So..."

"..."

"Put the damn jet on the ground."

So she brought it down _safely_ to the ground, only to have Scott throw a fit and Jean shake her head all disappointed like. Both Remy and Tabitha gave her thumbs up, which told her straight away just how dumb she had been.

Now they were back home and she'd been sent _to her room_ until she was called for. Which meant they were in Xavier's office right now ratting her out to the professor.

The waiting was driving her insane.

The knocking on her door was getting annoying.

The....wait. The knocking? Rogue jumped off her bed to find Remy lazing outside her door. She rolled her eyes. With a flip of her hair and a toss of her hand, she stomped back to her bed, leaving the door open for him to follow.

"Well, hullo t' y' too."

"Don't start with meh swamp rat." She threatened. He moved to sit beside her.

"Nervous?"

"Why would ah be nervous? S'not lahk this place has a history of _torturing _student who _steals_ things...." Sarcasm dripped off her words. She groaned, covering her face with her arm. "Ah can see it now - three years'a danger room with Logan as mah jailer. Up every morning' at four. Runnin' Sims f'r hours on end. So exhausted th-"

"Why don't we fin' som'ting t' distract y'?" Remy whipped a small book out of his back pocket.

"Homework's journal?"

"Don't y' wanna know wha' 'e's been up t' while da cats were away?"

"Psh." Rogue huffed. "Kit probably forgot about tha whole thing."

"Non...." Remy flipped through the pages. "Looks like at leas' seven 'r more. And s'not all da _chaton_ eit'er."

"Reallah?" Rogue snatched it out of his hands and settled back down, him beside her. "Yar right...Kitty, Jubes, Ororro...Logan, the professor..." She looked up at him with a confused raise eyebrow. "Who exactly _was_ lookin' afta him?"

"Read an' fin' out."

"Okay..." She turned to the last page she had written. "Homeworks Journal - Day 8.

Today my mommy and daddy are leaving for a trip. They won't be back until Sunday...."

They laughed - a lot. Remy declared Logan was getting soft. Rogue, however, felt a little bad for not asking him to baby-sit in the first place. But it was the last two pages that had them so deeply enthralled neither of them could speak.

Rogue got up off the bed and was halfway to the stairs before Remy caught up with her.

"Rogue-"

"Let go'a me!" She reefed her arm out of his grip. She once again took off, but Remy was right at her heels.

"Dontchya t'ink, maybe, y' shoul-"

But he never got a chance to finish speaking. She burst her way through the professor's door. Scott jumped back in surprise.

"Rogue we were just discussing your-"

"What is this?" Rogue interrupted Scott, tossing the open journal onto Xavier's desk. The elder man looked completely unruffled by her out burst. In the corner of the room, Scott could be found sputtering in outrage and confusion.

"You mean your journal."

"Don't play dumb with meh old man!"

"Rogue!" Remy pulled her back, attempting to calm her down.

"It is fine, Remy. Let her go. You were saying Rogue?"

"I wanna know if...if ya really meant what ya said in there."

"Do you think I would lie to you?"

"Professor..." She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. "Did ya mean it when ya said ya think ya've found the key tah mah powers?"

"From what Scott and I have been discussing, dear Rogue...I think you have found it too."

* * *

*I had written "distempered" there instead, because it sounded really nice in my head. But because I wasn't sure it was actually a word _at all_, I looked it up. "Distempered" is a type of paint. It probably sounded familiar because I have taken many (_many_) scenic painting classes, as well, as painted as Treasure Island set once.

** This was originally where the story went off in an entirely different direction - it included a mutant concentration camp, Carol Danvers, more Rogue freaking out and very little Remy or Homework. I wrote all this and _hated_ it. It was so...not, what this story is. It didn't mesh with anything else I had written. So, I deleted from this point on and had to think of how this whole thing was going to wrap up. Now I know there'll be 3-4 more chapters, and much much more Homework.


	7. Chapter 7 Part 1

This chapter got split into two parts because it was getting a little long, so the next chapter will be up quick as a jackrabbit on speed. It's quite a bit shorter, but you'll make due.

* * *

"First rule of combat - trust your instincts."

Rogue rolled her eyes at what she was sure Logan considered sage advice as she raised her staff, mirroring his action. The older man grunted and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'I saw that'.

It was four thirty in the morning and Rogue really wasn't in the mood for talking. Beating things to a pulp, yes, lectures on how to give said beatings, not so much.

It was the same way Logan always started his lessons.

Trust your instincts.

Go with your gut.

Don't think, just do.

As Logan's most advanced student, she had heard them all before. Over and over again. And seeing as how she was, once again, laying flat back on the mat staring up at him with little birdies flying around, it was one lesson that wasn't quite getting through.

"Ah did trust mah instincts." She groaned as she refused his hand to stand. She got up on her own. "They told meh you were gonna swing left."

"No, you seeing me drop my shoulder told you I was going swing left - _my_ instincts told me you saw that and I'd have to trip ya up." He smirked. "Which I did, by the way."

She picked up her staff once again and got back into the ready position.

It was going to be a _long_ day.

***

Rogue was...frustrated. That was a good word to describe the burning feeling she had in her chest.

The professor was certain she had some how tapped into Gambits psyche just before she decided to steal the Blackbird. Only problem was she didn't know how she had done it, or why.

And as for controlling the touching part of her power...lets just say she'd been spending more time in the Danger room than both Logan and Remy combined working off her..._frustrations._

Really, the only thing keeping her from reaching over the Professor's desk and draining him dry for ever getting her hopes up was the fact that she had no need for the telepath in her head.

That, and Logan probably wouldn't be very pleased.

The professors oh-so wise suggestion on gaining control over her skin? _Be calm, clear your mind._

That was a _real _help when she had at least 20 voices in her head screaming at her at all hours of the day.

But he seemed to think that she had already touched Homework a multitude of times and just hadn't noticed. More than likely while she had been asleep, or just when she was playing with him.

While Rogue trusted and cared for the professor...she felt that, in this particular instance, the old man was full of so much crap his eyes were brown!

_Trust your instincts, Rogue._

_Clear your mind, Rogue._

"How's it goin', Rogue?"

Rogue looked to see Remy standing there with Homework tucked under his arm. Not in the mood to put up with _whatever_ it was Remy felt like harassing her about today she just held out her arms.

"Give meh the dog."

"Pardon?"

"The dog. Homework. Ah want him" Then, as an after thought. "...please."

"Y'r lookin' pretty tense, _chere_...m'ybe y' should jus' let me keep him f'r now."

"Dang it Remy!" She stomped her foot, secretly wishing his face were under her boot. "Just hand him ov'a!"

"Calm y'rself down, Rogue."

"Calm yar self down, Rogue. Clear your mind, _Rogue. _Trust your instincts_, __**Rogue**__._" She mocked under her breathe, snatching a happy Homework out from under his arm. She pointed an accusing finger in his face. "Y'all reallah need tah _stop_ tellin' meh _what_ tah do!"

She turned in a huff and stomped up to her room. "Men." She spat.

Remy watched as she took off down the hallway shaking his head. He could never win with her, that's for sure.

"Women." He mused aloud.

On the plus side...As much as he hates to see her leave he loved to watch her walk away. He snickered to himself. From where he stood he could hear her bedroom door slam.

Shrugging to himself he went to see if there was anything left that was edible in the fridge.

***

Disregarding Scott's psyche reaming her out, Rogue threw herself up on to her bed, dirty boots and all. In fact, all the psyche's complaining did was cause Rogue to ground her dirty boots into the blanket even harder.

She mentally stuck her tongue out at him.

She pulled Homework to her side, cuddling hum under her chin.

.net/s/5385392/

In her arms the puppy whimpered and squirmed out of her arms to look up at her with an expression that said "Just try and ignore me lady...you know I'm cute enough to make you cave.". She let out a soft laugh.

"'Cept for you of course." She frowned again. "Well, it's decided. With the obvious exception of you, ah'm just gonna ignore everything male from this point forward."

_Oy! Wha' da 'ell?_

_Now Stripes..._

_Mon chere..._

"If you'd all just shut the hell up now, that'd be great, thanks." Rogue mumbled under her breathe. The last thing she needed to deal with was overactive psyches. "Ya'll think yar so bright..." She closed her eyes and a soft smile played on her lips. "Ahhhh....a world without men."

_Would be a world without any one._

"Spare meh the logistics, would ya Erik? Ah'm tryin' tah live in a dream world here."

_And what good would that do you? Eventually one has to wake up and realize that your dreams are just that - figments of you imagination._

"Any one else seein' th' irony of this conversation?" she sighed. "Ah cant even dream in private. Men, men everywhere."

_We're just trying to look out for you, kid. You know that._

_I'm not. Any one else sm-_

_Shut it furball._

_You shut it runt._

"Grahhh!" Rogue screamed into her pillow. "Hows about _both_ of ya shut it?"

_Regardless of how you feel about us, nothing changes the fact that we are, in fact, here to stay. Ignoring us isn't going to make us disappear._

"A girl can hope, can't she?"

_Are we really so bad?_

"Some times ah feel ah don't even know who ah am anymore."

Rogue jumped when she heard her door slam open. She up looked to see Kitty standing in the doorway, arm raised as if to knock.

"Rude much?" She snarled at her friend.

"Me?" Kitty squeaked. "I so did not do that!"

"Whatever." Rogue waved it off. "Ya gonna come in or ya letting all the cool air out?"

Kitty made her way into the room, only turning her nose up slightly at the mess. It was times like these Kitty remembered why she was glad she didn't have to room with Rogue anymore.

"So, like, what did you do to your door handle? It's all, like...squished."

Rogue shrugged again. "Ah dunno, that's news tah meh." She was unconcerned. Things got broken in the mansion all the time. Kitty sat down beside her friend on the bed.

"So...."

"So..." Rogue repeated, eyebrow raised.

"Okay, now this is where you're supposed to like, spill your guts."

"About what?"

"Whatever it is that has you completely freaking on anything with a Y-chromosome lately." She patted her own shoulder. "Come on, out with it. Share all with Aunty Kitty."

"Aunty?"

"Hey, you have a kid. Well, a dog, but same diff. So that totally makes me an aunt."

"Why are you here again?"

"I _told_ you. I'm just here for you to talk to, if you want."

"But ya ain't leavin' til ah do, right?"

"Precisely."

"Faaahn." Rogue drew the word out regretfully. "As you know, the prof thinks he knows how tah control my powers-"

"Congratulations by the way!"

"Let's wait til somethin' actually works before we celebrate, hey Kit? Any way, he's tryin' tah get me tah tap into whatever it is ah tap into when ah touch Homework, which, by the way ah apparently _can_ do."

"How does that work?"

"No idea. Xavier said something about trust, but ah trust you. And Logan. And a dozen other people in this school an' ah can' touch them."

"I thought this all had something to do with when you, like, _stole_ the Blackbird out from underneath Scott's nose?"

"He seems tah think ah did it because ah tapped into mini-Remy," Rogue tapped the side of her head. "And while ah was still in control ah was bein'...influenced by his persona. They also think ah may have been using his power, seein' as how Jean couldn't get past mah static shield. It kinda makes sense, ah mean...ah was chattin' with him before it happened."

"With Remy?"

"The psyche version, yeah."

"You, like, talk with them?" Kitty's nose became scrunched.

"Ah've tried ignorin' 'em. Trust meh when ah say it doesn't work."

"Weird."

"Try bein' on this side of it." Rogue shook her head. "It's just all so a mess. They keep pressurin' meh tah do something ah've already done, even though ah've only eva done it on accident." Kitty contemplated Rogue for a moment.

"Rogue. How did your bedroom door open just before I came in?"

"Ah dunno. Ya threw it open?"

"No, I didn't." She bit her lip, thinking hard. "Who were you talking to before the door opened? In your head?"

"Ummm...Erik."

"Erik?"

"Sorry, Magneto."

"Okay, Mag- wait. You call him Erik?"

"It's fairly comfy cozy up in here, Kit."

"Right, off topic. Any way, remember the door handle? Do you think you could have pulled the door open with Magneto's powers?"

Rogue shook her head. "Nah. Ah mean, it's possible, but ah didn't even know you were at the door. 'Nd Erik doesn't have any power that woulda let me know."

"Oh." Kitty pouted. "It was worth a try."

"It was a good one Kitty. And it was the first thang ah though of too. But it's kinda a silly theory."

"I guess."

The two girls sat in silence, both petting Homework, who was more than happy to try to alleviate the tension just by being oh-so-adorable.

"We should get you outta here. It's so...dank." Kitty decided, standing. She picked up the dog. "We'll take Homer to the park, teach him how to bring his own ball back?"

"What?"

"Funny story! The last time me and Jubes took him to the park, no matter what you threw for-"

"That's not what ah meant." Rogue rolled her eyes. "_Homer?_"

"Oh....oops?"

"Opps? Why are you re-namin' _mah_ dog?" Rogue snatched Homework out of her arms. Kitty let out a whiney sound and pouted.

"Homeworks _such_ a baaaaad name, Rogue! Even you have to be able to see that."

"It's a perfectly fahne name!"

"It's horrid."

"Why can't y'all just drop this?" Rogue was very annoyed. What was it, pick on every one of Rogue's failings day? Yeesh. "Even little Jamie was raggin' on meh. There's nothin' wrong with Homework!"

"Except that everyone who's not a teacher hates it."

"Kitty yar really-" Rogue stood, stalking closer to the smaller girl, a scowl firmly set in place. Kitty jumped up and out the door.

"Really Rogue, you should maybe try to calm down. Maybe go for a walk? Clear your head?" Kitty's voice got smaller and small as she ran down the stairs.

***

It was absolutely beautiful out. The sky was bright blue, the sun was warm and the air was crisp. Even Rogue's bad mood couldn't last very long while her and Homework were out at the park. Annoying as she was, Kitty was full of some pretty good ideas.

Rogue tossed the ball, and chased after Homework when he wouldn't bring it back. They ran all around the dog park, tiring each other out. Eventually, they both just laid out on the grass, panting.

"Now that's a nice sight to see!"

Placing a hand to block out the suns rays from her eyes, Rogue sat up to see a strange guy standing in front of her.

"Scues meh?"

"Ooo. And an accent too. Cute." He was about her age, maybe a year or so older. He stood about six inches taller than her with blonde hair. From her spot on the grass, she couldn't see his eyes.

"Cahn ah help you?"

"Sure can, babe." He sat down beside her. His eyes were brown. "Names Chase. What's yours?" He held out a hand for her to shake.

"Rogue." Blunt, to the point. She looked down at his hand and then back to his face. It shortly became obvious she was not going to reciprocate, so he put his hands down behind him and leaned back.

"Rogue, huh?" He smiled and gave a small nod. "I like it."

"Nahce tah have yar approvable."

"Me-ow." He laughed. "Kitten's got claws. It amazing out today."

"I guess." Rogue felt fairly uncomfortable, briefly wishing she'd asked Remy to come out with her. If nothing else he was good at keeping would-be suitors away.

"You think ya could move it along?" Rogue shooed him away, but all he did was raise an eyebrow.

"Did I do something to offend you?"

"You're a man." She grumbled. "And ah have had enough of men tahday."

"No I'm not." He grinned. "I'm just a boy. A kid really."

"Y'r close enough."

"Don't make me pay for the mistakes of my gender." He put his hands together, like he was begging, but his laughed almost ruined the effect. "Please, we're idiots. There's no way to come back from that!"

"Well...Ah guess since you already know yar an idiot."

"And everything I say is wrong."

"Exactly."

"So do you really mind if I just hang out here?"

Rogue shrugged. "It's a free country. And a public park."

"That your dog?"

"No, ah stole it." When Chase just grinned at her she found herself giving him a small smile back. "He's mine, yeah."

"What's his name?"

Rogue frowned, and didn't answer.

"Uh, sorry?" Chase scratched his head. "Touchy subject?"

"Kinda. No one else likes it."

"But it's your dog right?"

"Mostly. At least until the project is done."

"Then it doesn't matter what other people think."

"That's what ah said!" Rogue threw her hands up into the air, exasperated. "No one eva listens tah meh." Chase laughed with her.

"So do I get the privilege?"

Rogue squinted her eyes, as if deep in thought. "Ah dunno. Ah'm pretty sure its one of those things where if ah tell ya, ah have tah kill ya."

"Alright, alright." Chase nodded, playing along. He looked from her to the dog. The puppy nuzzled up close to him under his hand. "What do you think, pup? Is it worth it?"

He let out a happy yelp, spinning around, making both Chase and Rogue chuckle. Chase looked back to Rogue.

"I guess that's a yes then."

"Homework."

"Huh?"

"That's his name. Homework?"

"Ouch." He grinned, to let her know he was kidding. "What he do to make you hate him?"

"Oh, shut up." Rogue gave him a small shove.

"Just kidding. It's a cool name. He'll never have to wonder if people are calling for him or some one else."

"That's true." They fell into a comfortable silence. She scanned him out of the corner of her eye. He was nice. Good-looking even. A little cocky, but not arrogant.

"Ice cream." Chase's voice broke Rogue from her musings.

"Pardon?"

"I'm gonna by you an ice cream." He stood. "And Homework a treat. If that's alright with you."

"That's fahne....but maybe ah don't like ice cream."

"Are you kidding? Everybody loves ice cream!" He held out a hand to help her up. She surprised herself by taking the offered hand with very little hesitation.

"Ah'm not everybody."

"No...you _certainly _are not." He gave her an appreciative look that had her blushing. When she was standing he kept a hold on her hand. "I could tell that right away."

"Thank ya, kind sir." She gave a small bow.

"Come on!"

Rogue had to laugh as she was pulled threw the park. She momentarily wondered if this situation was at all strange. It wasn't everyday a strange good looking guy just came over and started talking to her, so maybe it was just strange to _her_. And it was a public area, lots of people around, so it was unlikely anything bad would happen - and if it did, her skin would stop it almost before it began.

The three of them sat once again after they had gotten ice cream from the cart (Chase had insisted on paying, as well as getting a small scoop of vanilla in a cup for Homework). Rogue shocked herself by chatting with him easily and having fun. Was it possible that she, the self-proclaimed Rogue of Bayville, was _flirting_?

It had started to get late - later than she had realized - when Chase looked down at his watch.

"Whoa! Where did the time go?" He looked regretful. "It's been a slice, but I really gotta get home. Late for dinner."

"Eep." Rogue checked her watch. "Ah shoulda been home ova an hour ago."

"Can I see you again?"

"Well, ah..." Rogue was stunned, unprepared for the question.

"I like you Rogue. you're a pretty cool chick." He grinned again. "I'd like to take you out on a real date."

"Ah'm not-"

"And I want to kiss you."

"Pa-pa-pardon?" She sputtered. He stepped closer. She stared into his eyes, her mind running a million miles a minute. Kiss him? She _just_ met him. But he was really nice...wait. She couldn't kiss him...

He drew closer.

Why cant ah kiss him?

His lips were mere inches from hers.

Ah just met him, this'll be mah first kiss..._MY POWERS! _Right powers. Tell him you're a mutant and he'll back off. Just tell him what you can do and he'll run away and you'll never have tah see him again just tell him-

"Remy!" She half shouted just before Chases lips touched hers. His eyes widened and her took a step back.

"Umm...huh?"

She covered her mouth with her hands. "Ah have no idea why ah said his name."

"Ahhh." Chase nodded, giving her a small sad-ish smile. "Boyfriend?"

"He's...he's just..." _What the hell _was_ he?_

"Don't worry about it. I understand. A girl a good-looking as you is never single." Chase shook her gloved hand. "Thanks anyway Rogue. I had a really nice time today."

"Meh too..."

"I'll see you around okay?"

"Alright. Good-bye Chase."

"_See you later_, Rogue."

And then the blonde was gone.

And Rogue's head hurt. Why did guys have to make everything so complicated?

***

By the time she made it back to the mansion, she had long since missed dinner. It had been Kitty's night though, so she couldn't really feel to bad about it. After letting Logan know she was home, she took Homework out to the back yard to play some more fetch. He would be sleeping like a log tonight, that was for sure

Deciding not to think about Chase, or Remy for that matter, (because, really, how random was that whole situation?) she began to try out some different names on the pup.

"Rover. Too common." She frowned. "Raja. Nah, that's a tiger. This is harder than ah thought. Maybe ah should just go with Kitty's Homer idea - it _is _pretty close to his name now..."

"Rogue?" Her musings were broke by the soft voice of one Miss Ororro Monroe. Rogue lead her head back to see her.

"Hey Storm."

"I didn't see you at dinner tonight."

"Ah decided mah days been bad enough with out food poisonin' thank ya very much."

"May I ask where you were?"

"Ah already told Logan ah was sorry ah was late - can' a girl just go out without havin' everyone houndin' her? It's not like ah was getting' inta trouble."

"I never thought you were." Storm sat down beside her, taking a turn at throwing the stick. "I was just inquiring about your life, as people who care about you are bound to do, time and again."

"Oh." Rogue was embarrassed she had jumped all over her like that. "Sorry 'bout that."

"All is forgiven."

"It's been gorgeous all day. That you?"

"A little. The nice weather put me in a good mood."

"Thus makin' the weather even nicer."

"Exactly. So you got out to enjoy the sunshine?"

"Yeah. I went to the park." Rogue paused for a moment, not sure if she really felt like confiding in the weather witch, but who else was she going to tell, Kitty? "Ah met a boy."

"Oh?" Ororro raise an eyebrow.

"He was reallah nice, and Homework liked him."

"But..."

"But nothing. He was funny, cute an' polite. There's no reason not to like him."

"I keep feeling like there's something you're not telling me."

"Ah guess just that, even though ah liked him, when he asked meh out ah felt kinda...sick. Tah my stomach. Which was odd, because he was in no way repulsive."

"Did you tell him you were a mutant?" When Rogue shook her head no, she continued. "Perhaps you were afraid of what he would say if he really knew."

"Maybe..." Rogue shrugged. "Anyway, it's ova now, and I probably won't see him again, so it doesn't even matter."

"It that what you were doing out here? Thinking about a boy?"

"First, don't say it like that." Storm laughed at her. "An' second, no. Ah'm tryin' tah come up for a new name for the dog. Everyone's been on mah case about it."

"Hmmm." Ororro nodded.

"What was that?" Rogue looked at her suspiciously.

"What was what?"

"That face."

"What face?"

"The face you're making now."

"This is my normal face, Rogue."

"No, it's your 'I have something to say but there's no real polite way to say it so I'm just gonna keep mah mouth closed' face."

"My face is apparently quite the chatterbox."

"Out with it Storm."

"It's simply that I didn't know you to be one to cave to peer pressure so easily."

"Ah'm not caving!" Rogue stood and crossed her arms. "Ah'm just...Ah named him that because I was pis- angry. Let's face it everyone hates homework. It's just a bad implication, is all."

"I have come to learn, in instances such as these, it is some time just best to go with-"

"So help me lord, if you say _go with yar gut_ ah'ma gonna hafta hurt ya!" Rogue ran her finger through her hair. "Why is that all everyone's been telling meh lately! _'Trust yer instincts, Stripes'_. Bah! Ah'm not even sure ah _have _instincts."

"Everyone has instincts. Gut feelings, hunches, sixth senses....intuition. It's all the same."

"I don't have any of those!"

"Yes you do. You just have to learn to listen to them."

"Ah'm just..." Rogue shook her head. "How am ah ever supposed tah hear mah instincts, with all these voices in mah head?"

"they do make you quite unique."

"Ah wish ah could just be normal."

"You are normal Rogue. Being unique _makes_ you normal. Everyone is unique in their own way." The were both quiet for a moment. Ororro stood to leave. "Rogue, I'm going to ask you to do me a favor."

"Ask away."

"Next time, I want you to listen to the voices."

"What? Why?"

"Call it a hunch.

Rogue watched as Storm made her way back into the house. Turning back to her dog, who appeared to be chasing flies, she called him over, and placed him into her lap, his small face in her hands.

"Alright mutt. What is your name?"

TBC...

* * *

Um. Chase, yeah. No idea where he came from. Really. He just showed up, without being invited.


End file.
